UK HealthCare job program for football players under investigation

The Kentucky Wildcats are going to be getting Chris Rodriguez back in a couple of weeks when the Cats make the trip to face the Ole Miss Rebels.

However, we now know why Rodriguez continues to be out and why Jordan Wright missed the season opener.

In documents released by the school, it is revealed that the University of Kentucky launched an investigation back in February into members of the football team for allegedly filing inaccurate time cards while working for UK HealthCare.

The names of the players are redacted, but Jon Hale of the Herald-Leader reported that two players in particular were being investigated.

Since 2017, Kentucky football players have been working as patient transporters for UK HealthCare. The program was started by former Kentucky kicker J.J. Housley in his role as director of enterprise operations for UK HealthCare.

The program did not violate NCAA rules as long as players were paid for work actually performed by the players.

While that may have been happening early on, that must have since changed leading the university to launch the investigation.

One UK HealthCare employee shared more details with the Herald-Leader.

“One week I noticed that some of them were clocking in 5 or 6 days a week,” he wrote. “Mostly 12-hour shifts, some as much as 14. When I made this realization, the next morning during our impromptu ‘morning meeting’ we usually have prior to bed meeting, I mentioned to her that I did not feel comfortable doing their time anymore. She simply nodded her head and said she would take care of them from that point on.”

You can read the documents released by the University here.