PAC-12 Denies USC AD Pat Haden's Request to Donate His $25K Fine to Autism Research So He Donates $25K to it Anyway

During the USC/Stanford game last weekend fans got to see something that is pretty rare. After receiving a text from USC head coach Steve Sarkasian the school's athletic director left the press box and came down to the field to confront the refs about some recent penalties. Nothing like a little extra drama, right?

Well, fans got a little more when the PAC-12 levied a fine against Sarkasian (which he paid without question). He requested it go towards Autism research, but the conference denied his request.

@SportsDayDFW

On Monday he took to Twitter to acknowledge the conference's reprimand and fine as well as to make his request that it go towards autism research in honor of his grandson:

I accept the @pac12 reprimand. I plan to pay the fine personally. To honor my 5-yr-old grandson who has autism, I have a special request...
— Pat Haden (@ADHadenUSC) September 8, 2014

...I will request the @pac12 forward the fine to Children's Hospital Los Angeles for autism research. #Autism #FightOn
— Pat Haden (@ADHadenUSC) September 8, 2014

Sounds like a reasonable request, right? Nothing wrong with trying to take a negative and make a positive out of it either. The conference did not see it that way and denied his request because it was against policy:

I received clarification that my PAC 12 fine must be applied to the Conf post grad scholarship fund...
— Pat Haden (@ADHadenUSC) September 10, 2014

Okay, so it is going towards something worthwhile. Scholarships are often the only way some students are able to afford college so it is hard to argue against that--and Haden didn't. Instead he donated another $25K to help fight autism:

I will also happily make the same donation to Children's Hospital LA for autism research in honor of my grandson#FightAutism
— Pat Haden (@ADHadenUSC) September 10, 2014

Well done Mr. Haden. Well done indeed.

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