UCF kicker Donald De La Haye has been ruled ineligible for the 2017 season after not accepting a waiver submitted to the NCAA, according to a statement from UCF Athletics.
The waiver concerned De La Haye’s ability to monetize his YouTube channel, which has over 90,000 subscribers.
The waiver, which was granted by the NCAA, would have allowed him to continue monetizing videos as long as he did not reference being a student athlete or post videos that showed his football ability.
All I wanted was to keep inspiring and motivating others through my content. Didn’t know it would cost me my education.
— Donald (@Deestroying) July 31, 2017
De La Haye rejected the waiver, making him ineligible, and tweeted “Unbelievable” shortly after UCF released a statement regarding the issue.
De La Haye’s YouTube channel first became an issue last month, when he posted a video titled “QUIT COLLEGE SPORTS OR QUIT YOUTUBE.” In the video, he said that he had been informed that his videos were violating NCAA rules and that he would try to find a way around it.
De La Haye, who played high school football in Port St. Lucie, spent two seasons with the Knights. He played in all 13 games in the 2016 campaign, finishing the year with 73 kickoffs for an average of 60.8 yards per kick.
