Being a YouTube star trumps being a kicker for a second tier college program anyday. So it didnt take long for UCF kicker Donald De La Haye to tell the NCAA to take what he perceives as their controlling and oppressive regime and kick rocks.
Donald on Twitter
Ya boy might have to put out an NCAA diss track
The NCAA essentially made Haye choose between making videos or continuing to play football, and Haye chose the glamorous, potentially lucrative and star-studded life of Youtube videos. Then he released a video dissing the governing body of collegiate athletics. Haye flows his NCAA diss rap over XXXTentacion’s “Look At Me” track In his first Youtube blastoff as a former UCF student. He set the tone by starting the song with “Screw the NCAA.”
Donald on Twitter
I’m not a rapper.. but I had to drop the diss track w/ @KvngTas https://t.co/XKXpeDwLfr
At first the NCAA tried to shut down his video exploits altogether, but after Haye explained that he wanted to make loot off the videos to help family members who were “struggling at home,” the NCAA offered him a waiver that would have allowed him to make money off his videos as long as they weren’t related to athletics. He didn’t like the offer. The NCAA told him, “Peace Out.”
Inside the NCAA on Twitter
NCAA statement regarding Donald De La Haye.
Now the rising junior is reaching out to his fans for financial support to complete his education.
I lost my full D1 scholarship because of my Youtube channel..
With the NCAA deeming me ineligible, I lost my full football scholarship. I am passionate about youtube and still will work relentlessly to get my degree but I don’t have the funds necessary to do so. Please help out, even if its just $1! https://www.gofundme.com/g3fyuu-college-tuition
Since the story got circulated by the social media moshpit, Haye has lost his scholarship but gained popularity and he’s now up to over 160,000 subscribers on YouTube with more free time to make videos. De La Haye is getting more facetime than he ever could as a kicker. No one outside of campus even knew what he looked like until June, when De La Haye, who had about 53,000 followers of his “Deestroying” channel at the time, said his athletic scholarship had been threatened because of ads on his YouTube content.
Haye strikes me as the kind of guy that is a fame seeker and it was going to be hard for him to become a celebrity kicking field goals in Orlando. This situation has released the beast and set the young man on another path. However, if Haye’s Youtube career flounders, the young and overzealous college student with no source of paying his own way through school will deeply regret not taking the NCAA’s deal.
Until then, there’s always social media.
Donald on Twitter
I want to get my degree, but can’t afford it. Help me raise money for Tuition (even $1 helps) Click to Donate: https://t.co/aio97zHQxv
