UCF Placekicker Gives Up Football Eligibility For YouTube Videos
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ORLANDO (CBSMiami/AP) — This is one University of Central Florida student who seems to have his priorities figured out.
UCF kicker Donald De La Haye has made the decision to give up football rather than give up making advertising money from videos on YouTube that he produced.
The university released a statement Monday saying De La Haye did not accept the conditions of a waiver received from the NCAA and has been ruled ineligible to compete.
The statement said UCF officials petitioned the NCAA on De La Haye's behalf and got the governing body to allow De La Haye to continue to make money from videos that did not depict him as a student-athlete.
But the YouTube videos that depict him as a student-athlete would have to broadcast on a non-monetized account.
UCF spokesman Andy Seeley said he is uncertain what part of the agreement De La Haye did not agree with. De La Haye, who is from Port St. Lucie, Florida, could not be reached for comment.
De La Haye posted a new video Monday night following the decision. He started a GoFundMe page asking for the public's help in paying for his tuition after losing his football scholarship.
The university began investigating in the spring whether or not the videos, and the fact De La Haye made money from them, were an NCAA violation. NCAA rules prohibit student-athletes from making money off of their images.
De La Haye, a marketing major, made several videos, some depicting his everyday routine and some that dealt with his experiences on the football team. Some of his videos had more than 50,000 views, though it is unclear how much money De La Haye made.
As a sophomore last season, De La Haye appeared in all 13 of the Knights games as a kickoff specialist. He had 73 kickoffs totaling 4,441 yards, averaging 60.8 yards per kick and finished with 37 touch backs.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)