The NCAA will allow Trevor Lawrence and other athletes to raise money for COVID-19 victims as part of an exception, the organization said in a statement.
Trevor Lawrence and his girlfriend Marissa Mowry will be allowed to keep their GoFundMe page for coronavirus (COVID-19) victims, according to a statement from the NCAA.
Though original reports said that Lawrence and Mowry had to shut down the page due to compliance issues, the NCAA said in a statement Tuesday evening that it commended Trevor Lawrence’s efforts and had not reached out to him about taking the page down. The Athletic’s Grace Raynor was the first to report.
Here is what the NCAA just sent me when I asked for some clarity on the Trevor Lawrence situation. @TheAthleticCFB pic.twitter.com/VtuSJpadFV
— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) March 24, 2020
A Clemson Compliance Official had reached out to Lawrence about the rule in place, but the NCAA waiver will allow the quarterback and his girlfriend to continue to raise money for patients and their families.
From Clemson: pic.twitter.com/4Kq8xlM74Y
— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) March 24, 2020
In a post on Instagram, Trevor Lawrence expressed his gratitude to the NCAA for granting the waiver and said that he and Marissa would have a new plan soon for how to progress.
Trevor Lawrence on Instagram: "Shout out to the NCAA. Thank y'all so much for granting a waiver. They're allowing us to raise money now, to continue to raise money for what we were doing originally." Lawrence and his GF Marissa Mowry will have a new plan tomorrow.
— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) March 25, 2020
Trevor Lawrence continued: "Again, I just wanted to thank the NCAA really. Everyone's made them out to be the bad guy, but it was more just so the rules that have already been in place. They've done a really good job of responding and actually allowing us to do it. Thank y'all."
— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) March 25, 2020
This is one of those situations where you have to give credit where credit is due. The NCAA has made a ton of mistakes in the past, but the organization made the right decision to swiftly jump on this and make sure the public understands that it wasn’t them that told Lawrence to take the page down.
As the country continues to work together and fight the coronavirus, Trevor Lawrence will be a part of raising funds for medical care.
Lawrence has been nothing short of a great athlete, citizen and leader since he arrived on campus and it’s absolutely awesome to see him and his girlfriend continuing to look for ways to help the community during this time.
Clemson should be proud to have Lawrence as the face of the football program and he will continue to make Tiger fans proud for many more years to come.