The NCAA has a long and storied history of screwing its student-athletes over at every possible turn, whether it’s refusing to allow a player to transfer so he can be closer to his ailing mother, taking away someone’s eligibility because they have a YouTube channel, or suspending kids for having the gall to play fantasy baseball.
The organization has ruled college sports with an iron fist for over a century and has no one to answer to but itself, and as a result, schools are absolutely scared shitless to attract its ire in fear of getting hit with sanctions for the slightest violation of its often archaic and misguided rules.
Over the past year or so, there’s been a push to finally allow athletes to get paid for their image and likeness, as California passed a bill (and Florida is exploring a similar one) that will let college players receive compensation—a bill that was met with severe resistance from the NCAA until it was forced to come to terms with the writing on the wall.
However, the governing body still hasn’t made any official changes to its awful policies, and as a result, schools are still forced to stay constantly vigilant in an attempt to avoid its wrath.
Last year, Clemson highlighted just how absurd NCAA regulations are when it self-reported an improper use of confetti while a recruit was visiting (because everyone knows showers of shredded paper can play an absolutely critical role in convincing a prospective athlete to commit) and it would appear the school is still pretty paranoid based on how it handled a recent fundraiser Trevor Lawrence attempted to put together.
According to The New York Post, the quarterback created a GoFundMe with girlfriend Marissa Mowry on Monday to raise money to provide free meals to people who’ve been impacted by the biggest crisis the world has faced in quite some time.
However, shortly after the campaign was launched, Mowry posted a video saying they’d been forced to take the page down after Lawrence was told it could be in violation of NCAA regulations.
Sadly, the Torch and Pitchfork Store in my neighborhood has been deemed “non-essential” by the state of New York but that turned out to be a moot point, as the NCAA quickly issued a statement to proclaim its innocence, and after further investigation, it turns out it was actually Clemson’s compliance department that instructed Lawrence to err of on the side of caution.
— Inside the NCAA (@InsidetheNCAA) March 24, 2020
Lawrence and Mowry managed to raise $2,670 for Meals on Wheels and No Kid Hungry before they shut the page down, and while they haven’t relaunched it as of this writing, I sincerely hope they do.
Credit where credit is due to the NCAA for actually having some common sense for once.
