Ohio State is now trying to make one thing painfully clear: this mess is not theirs. Star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and quarterback Tavien St. Clair appeared at a Life Surge event inside the university’s own basketball arena back in May 2025, long before the current controversy exploded. Now the Christian organization is facing allegations that it used high-pressure tactics to push expensive financial-education programs on attendees.

Safe to say, this is probably not the kind of NIL publicity Ohio State had in mind. Smith and St. Clair are free to take outside deals, but once the company paying them gets accused of predatory sales tactics, the Buckeyes get dragged into the fallout anyway.

So Ohio State did what any major program would do when the optics turn ugly: get its name as far away from the mess as possible. The university’s message was blunt. The players showed up on their own, Life Surge was not an Ohio State operation, and nobody should mistake a paid NIL appearance for a Buckeyes endorsement.

“All Ohio State student-athletes may attend or make appearances at events of their choosing, provided those activities comply with applicable NCAA and Ohio State policies. The appearance in question was independent of Ohio State. We therefore have no further comment on the matter raised,” the university said, according to journalist Pablo Torre on X.

Torre’s Ohio State questions came out of a much broader investigation published on September 24. Working with Mother Jones reporter Kiera Butler, Torre spent months examining Life Surge, including complaints from former customers, the company’s sales practices and what the podcast described as the use of celebrity-athlete “bait” to add credibility to its events.

That celebrity connection was not merely background decoration. According to reporting cited by PFSN, Life Surge used a photo opportunity involving Urban Meyer, Caleb Downs and Jeremiah Smith as an incentive while encouraging customers to sign up for additional financial classes. The players themselves were not reported to have directly pitched those courses, but access to the Ohio State figures was reportedly used as part of the incentive.

The broader controversy surfaced much later, when Torre and Mother Jones published their Life Surge investigation on September 24, 2026. That reporting brought renewed scrutiny to athletes and celebrities who had appeared at the organization’s events long before the allegations became public.

Neither Smith nor St. Clair has been accused of participating in Life Surge’s alleged sales practices. But the September 24 investigation had already started producing consequences elsewhere, most notably with Tim Tebow, one of Life Surge’s highest-profile speakers, who paused his relationship with the organization the following day.

Inside the high-pressure sales allegations

The controversy becomes easier to understand once the numbers are laid out. Life Surge events could cost as little as $20, followed by an optional $97 three-day Impact Class covering stock-market or real-estate investing. According to the investigation, some attendees were then offered advanced programs costing between $10,000 and $40,000, with certain options reportedly reaching even higher.

Some former customers said that pressure did not stop at the sales pitch. Cathy Luebke told Mother Jones that she and her husband bought a $20,000 package and later borrowed roughly $40,000 on credit cards after speaking with an in-house financial counselor. She said they eventually used a home-equity loan to pay off roughly $20,000 in credit-card debt.

The complaints were not limited to the customers featured in the investigation. Torre and Mother Jones reporter Kiera Butler said they requested complaints involving Life Surge from the Federal Trade Commission and received 49, including accounts from people who said they had suffered significant financial losses.

Life Surge strongly disputes that characterization. The company says enrollment in its educational programs is voluntary, that employees are not trained to pressure customers into taking on debt they cannot afford and that a person’s faith should never be used to force a purchase. It also says headline speakers are not asked to endorse its Impact Classes or advanced training programs.

Former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow’s decision to pause his relationship with Life Surge only intensified the scrutiny. The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner had been one of the organization’s most prominent speakers, appearing at 10 Life Surge events in both 2024 and 2025 and reportedly being on pace for 20 appearances in 2026.

On September 25, Tebow addressed the controversy publicly and said his team would investigate the allegations before deciding what comes next.

“The allegations are extremely, extremely serious, and it’s something that we take very serious,” Tebow said, according to the Gainesville Sun. “And so, for us, we’re having our team do an investigation, but also pausing our relationship until we can learn more about the facts to be able to understand more.”

Tebow said he was “caught off guard” by the investigation. He said his role at Life Surge events was centered on sharing his Christian faith, and the reporting has not established that he knew about the alleged sales practices before the investigation became public.

Other prominent names have reportedly stepped away as well, including Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, who has cut ties with the organization, and pastor Craig Groeschel, who reportedly will not appear at upcoming events.

Smith and St. Clair, meanwhile, appeared as paid guests under NIL rules. Neither player has been accused of taking part in Life Surge’s alleged sales practices, and reporting indicates they did not directly pitch the financial programs.

That distinction is ultimately what Ohio State wanted on the record. The university says the appearance was independent of the school, while the allegations against Life Surge remain disputed. Smith and St. Clair’s presence at the event should not be confused with evidence that either player participated in the conduct now under scrutiny.