Across two years of playing time for the University of Central Florida (UCF) football team, kicker Donald De La Haye has booted more than 100 kickoffs while taking advantage of the benefits of an athletic scholarship. Meanwhile, his YouTube channel, on which he posts football-related sketches and vlogs, is flourishing, racking up more than 2.5 million total views and over 54,000 subscribers.
As it turns out, those two elements of De La Haye’s life may not be able to coexist. In a recent vlog, the student-athlete noted that the ad revenue he makes off his YouTube videos may represent an improper benefit that could cause him to lose his scholarship.
As many college sports fans know, the NCAA is very strict about the amount of money student-athletes make while on scholarship. De La Haye explained in his vlog that “some people upstairs aren’t happy with my videos, and he may be forced to choose between his YouTube career and his spot on the football team. As he sees it, his online video presence, which he maintains with many hours of work, is directly related to his marketing major and, by extension, his future career.
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“UCF Athletics is committed to rules compliance,” reads a statement from the UCF athletic department. “Our compliance staff strives to make sure our student-athletes are informed about all pertinent NCAA bylaws. Student-athletes attend regular educational meetings regarding NCAA eligibility. One of our goals is to help our student-athletes learn about the bylaws that govern intercollegiate athletics, in an effort to help them maintain their eligibility.”
De La Haye is not the first college athlete to deal with YouTube-related problems. As SB Nation notes, a wrestler at the University of Minnesota previously found himself in hot water thanks to music videos he posted online. One would think De La Haye would be able to resolve his issue by removing ads from his videos, but even if he decides on that compromise, his tale serves as a caution for young athletes who may be interested in sharing their lives online.
