Ohio State 'looking into' possible Braxton Miller endorsement violation

An Ohio State spokesperson says the school is "aware" of a deleted Braxton Miller Instagram post that showed the Buckeyes senior quarterback with a collection of AdvoCare nutrition products -- and more importantly, appeared to endorse the multi-level marketing brand.

Via Bleacher Report, a screencap of the deleted post:

Per Land-Grant Holy Land, the Instagram handle mentioned in the caption to Miller's post belongs to trainer Brandon Oshodin of the company Authentik Fitness (who would later re-post Miller's image). Oshodin appears to be a distributor of AdvoCare products.

The NCAA strictly prohibits its student-athletes from publicly endorsing sales products, making the above image an apparent rules violation. Via ESPN's Austin Ward:

Ohio State spokesman on the Braxton Miller-AdvoCare situation: "We are aware of it and we're looking into it."

— Austin Ward (@AWardESPN) March 25, 2015

AdvoCare makes it clear it does not approve of NCAA athletes promoting the product (even if no doubt would be happy to have them use them):

Here's Advocare's recommendations page RE: NCAA athletes and coaches pic.twitter.com/li8gatuect

— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) March 25, 2015

So what's the potential fallout from Miller's misstep? Not much, most likely, unless Oshodin or another AdvoCare party has paid Miller handsomely for the privilege of the above photo, in which case the violation may be of the "secondary" variety. An apology, repayment of any minor impermissible benefits and promise to keep any future mentions of AdvoCare off his social media accounts may potentially resolve the case.

But as Ohio State knows better than most, delving into the murky world of the NCAA rulebook can sometimes offer some surprises. Stay tuned.