UCF kicker Donald De La Haye.YouTube/Deestroying
UCF kicker Donald De La Haye will not be suiting up for the 2017 season with the Knights after he was ruled ineligible for refusing to stop the monetization of his YouTube channel.
De La Haye, a junior kickoff specialist at UCF, has been producing and starring in videos for his channel Deestroying for a year now, with some of his videos, covering topics ranging from jokes to vlogs to inspirational words of wisdom, garnering hundreds of thousands of views.
This high number of views has given De La Haye the ability to monetize his channel, generating revenue through advertisers, and according to a statement released by UCF on Monday, that monetization made him ineligible to play collegiate football in the eyes of the NCAA.
UCF kicker @Deestroying has been ruled ineligible for not accepting the terms of a NCAA waiver in relation to monetizing his YouTube videos. pic.twitter.com/lIRmuoRDnC
— Brandon Helwig (@UCFSports) July 31, 2017
According to the statement, De La Haye was told he could maintain his monetized YouTube channel but would have to keep any videos referencing his status as a student-athlete or showing off his kicking abilities on another, non-monetized channel. A cursory scroll through his account revealed that the majority of what De La Haye produces does reference his status as a college kicker.
De La Haye responded with a post to his channel, saying, “In the end I don’t feel like there was any compromising really happening. They wanted me to give my money up, that I made, which is crazy. I worked so hard for it.”
De La Haye added that because he had lost his eligibility, he had also lost his scholarship, and has now set up a GoFundMe campaign to help cover his costs of tuition. You can watch De La Haye give his side of the story below.
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