Ad Disclosure
UCF kicker ruled ineligible over YouTube channel opens up in new video
By Kevin Duffey
Published:
UCF kicker Donald De La Haye won’t be playing college football anymore after refusing to demonetize his YouTube channel.
It appears that UCF tried to meet the kicker in the middle by the wording of its statement released following the ruling. UCF submitted a waiver to the NCAA, which was granted, that allowed De La Haye to continue to make money off of his videos, but he couldn’t “reference his status as a student-athlete or depict his football skill or ability.” The waiver also allowed him to keep making videos that referenced his status as a student-athlete, but he’d have to demonetize them.
In the end, De La Haye refused to meet the school and the NCAA, thus choosing his YouTube channel and losing his full scholarship.
Following the ruling, De La Haye released a new video, explaining he didn’t feel what was presented was fair.
“I may seem unbothered right now,” he said. “But I’m definitely torn apart inside. I never thought it would come down to this. They proposed me some rules and some conditions that they wanted me to follow, and I refused to. I didn’t feel like they were fair. I’m not going to get into details about that, because I signed a form. I just didn’t think it was fair what they wanted me to do; so, I told them I wouldn’t do it.”
De La Haye went on to say, “I have to deal with the consequences. No more college football. Since I can’t play college football, no more scholarship. I’m ineligible; I can’t pay for school. Life hit me fast.”
A graduate of the University of Florida and founder of Saturday Down South, Kevin is a college football enthusiast.
