Tennessee congress member joins #FreeCadeMays movement, shares video message
The #FreeCadeMays movement has collected supporters from all walks of life in the last 24 hours since the Tennessee lineman was denied an NCAA waiver to play immediately. Now, a U.S. congressman has joined the effort and shared a video message where he admits to being “ticked off” about the situation.
Mays elected to transfer from Georgia after the departure of offensive line coach Sam Pittman from Georgia to Arkansas as head coach. U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett noted that Mays is a Knoxville native and Tennessee legacy.
“The NCAA, dadgummit, they won’t let him transfer,” Burchett said. “It’s ridiculous. You know if the kid was a quarterback, you look at some of these quarterbacks in the past, they just run them through easily. This kid’s a lineman and they’re not going to let him transfer to UT. I just hope Coach Pruitt and some of the others have some luck with the NCAA, this is ridiculous.”
Burchett lamented not having any “say so” with the NCAA.
“This is why groups like this, they can’t help but mess things up,” Burchett said. “… Little boy needs to be able to come home and play ball for the Vols. Any help anybody can give us out there, it’d be really appreciated.”
Mays shared his appreciation: “Thank you for your kind words Congressman Burchett! Keep fighting the good fight.”
Come on @NCAA do the right thing and #FreeCadeMays pic.twitter.com/6koMUAXvci
— Tim Burchett (@timburchett) August 18, 2020