DETROIT — Lions rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford reportedly was a key figure in an NCAA secondary violation that Georgia’s football team committed last year.

According to the Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald, the university self-reported to the NCAA that four football players received tickets to an NFL game Nov. 16 between the Atlanta Falcons and the Denver Broncos at the Georgia Dome.
Citing federal student privacy law, the school redacted the names of players in its report to the NCAA. But fullback Shaun Chapas told the newspaper that Stafford acquired the complimentary tickets.
In its report, Georgia said an unnamed player told athletic department officials he had known then-Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler since his junior year of high school and had maintained a relationship by phone and text messages. The player said he texted Cutler for tickets to the game.
The Banner-Herald reported the players who received tickets, valued at $40 each, donated that amount to the Boys and Girls Club of Athens.
“We had to pay the money back for the tickets, which is fine,” Chapas told the paper.
Neither Stafford nor his agent, Tom Condon, were available for comment.