Former Bulldog Luke Ford example of NCAA transfer rule inconsistencies
The infamous transfer portal has brought up a lot of controversial conversations this offseason. Who deserves immediate eligibility? Who needs to sit out a year? Luke Ford found out just how inconsistent the NCAA can be.
Questions remain unanswered as the NCAA has failed to show consistency in exactly who earns immediate eligibility. Former Georgia TE Luke Ford, unfortunately, fell victim to the NCAA’s indecisiveness.
On January 4th, 2019 Ford officially announced that he would be transferring from the University of Georgia to play at the University of Illinois to be closer to home so he could be in closer proximity to his sick Grandpa.
After watching players like Justin Fields and Tate Martell have their waivers accepted one would think that Ford would for sure have his accepted as well.
More from Dawn of the Dawg
- Georgia Football: Top 5 Nick Chubb Moments at Georgia
- Georgia Football: Know the enemy UAB Blazers
- Nick Chubb is America’s running back, and he will return
- Georgia Football: Should laundry list of injuries be a cause to panic?
- Georgia Football: Report cards for Week 3 game against South Carolina
Just to make sure though UGA and Illinois football fans united on Twitter and ignited the #FreeLukeFord movement.
At one point the hashtag was one of the top trending phrases on the social media platform.
On Wednesday, Ford announced that his transfer waiver got rejected by the NCAA and he would be forced to sit out the 2019-20 season.
Ford is not the only player that fans have seen be denied a transfer waiver due to a sick family member.
Within 24 hours of Ford’s denial, the NCAA also denied eligibility to former Coastal Carolina lineman, Brock Hoffman, after he transferred to Virginia Tech to be closer to his mother who has a brain tumor.
https://twitter.com/lukeredx97/status/1121150023935328256
It is clear that the NCAA has failed to establish any form of consistency when it comes to transferring waivers. Things don’t add up when two players who relocate due to lack of playing time get granted immediate eligibility and then two players after that get denied for family medical reasons.
Last season, Georgia transfer Demetris Robertson was granted immediate eligibility when he decided to come back closer to home due to a family member also being sick.
As if the NCAA had no lost enough credibility to football fans their recent decisions with Luke Ford and Brock Hoffman has not helped one bit.
It appears that the transfer portal has brought more issues than it has resolved and to this point, it seems the NCAA has just about the same clue as to what is going on as Florida football fans do.
If the NCAA is going to be lenient with who they grant eligibility to then, it wouldn’t be much of a problem if they were consistent with their decisions for transfers.
As a result of their inconsistency, the question remains of what exactly are the requirements for a player to be granted immediate eligibility?
With the flood of transfers this past offseason, the NCAA has some severe problems to figure out if they want to avoid any more slander from the College Football faithful on Twitter.
Next. Georgia Football’s Specialists Aim for Record breaking 2019. dark
It is obvious who the fans are behind so what has made it so difficult for the NCAA to find a happy middle ground with transfers? The questions remain and in the meantime, any player who decides to transfer will be entering the portal at their own risk.