COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Former Ohio State wide receiver Ray Small told the school's student newspaper that he sold Big Ten championship rings and other memorabilia for cash and got special car deals as an athlete during his playing days.

The Lantern reported that Small, who played for the Buckeyes from 2006 to 2009, said "everyone was doing it" on the team.

Five Buckeyes players are suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season for selling memorabilia to the owner of a local tattoo parlor. That is considered an improper benefit under NCAA rules. Coach Jim Tressel also is suspended for five games and is under investigation by the NCAA for knowing about his players' involvement and not telling his superiors for more than nine months.

"We had four Big Ten rings. There was enough to go around," Small said.

He added that despite Ohio State's large and proactive NCAA compliance department, most of the student-athletes "don't even think about (NCAA) rules."

Ohio State did not dismiss Small's charges but also didn't sound as if it would try to find out any more about them.

"At this point, the university does not have enough information

regarding the reported matters concerning a former student-athlete

who has been gone from the football program for two years," athletic department spokesman Dan Wallenberg said in an emailed

statement.

Small, who was suspended for the 2010 Rose Bowl in what would have been his final game, said he used the money he got to cover his typical costs of living.

"We have apartments, car notes," he said. "So you got things like that and you look around and you're like, 'Well I got (four) of them, I can sell one or two and get some money to pay this rent.' "

He said the biggest advantages came from car dealerships.

"It was definitely the deals on the cars. I don't see why it's a big deal," said Small.