Illinois Football: Fans coming together to #FreeLukeFord

There is always so much going on in the world of college sports, and the Illinois football team seems to be squarely in the middle of some of the discussions.

One of the hot button issues throughout most of the last half-century has been with players transferring. This topic has been brought up at various times throughout history. Whether you are pro-player when it comes to transferring or pro-NCAA, there is always an argument for one side or the other. But, with the NCAA specifically, not everything is black and white.

Over the past few years, the NCAA has become laxer with their transfer rules, or it just seems that way. There is a lot of inconsistency when it comes to their decision-making when to allow or not allow a transfer to become immediately eligible. One exception that players use to become immediately eligible is the hardship waiver.

A hardship waiver, according to athleticscholarships.net, is an argument by a student-athlete that it is the best thing for the student-athlete and/or their family for him or her to play immediately, and the student-athlete needs to transfer to help an injured or ill family member. There are three specific areas that the NCAA looks at as well. Those three areas are; nature of the injury or illness, student-athletes responsibilities related to the care of the family member and chronology of events.

I feel like that is pretty self-explanatory. The student-athlete wants to come back home to help take care of and/or see their relative that is sick. It isn’t a complicated process, so why is the NCAA making it one?

As all Illinois fans know, Illini tight end Luke Ford transferred into the program this offseason. He spent a year down in Georgia but needed to come back to Illinois so he could be closer to his family. This would enable his family to come see him play and also take care of his ill grandparents without it being such a financial burden on the family. So, Illinois put in for a hardship waiver to enable Ford to play this season for the Orange and Blue. Common sense says this would have been approved by now. That is not the case, though.

With the NCAA dragging their feet on approving Ford’s hardship waiver, fans are getting restless. I am not just talking about Illini fans either. Fans from Georgia and other programs are joining in as well. The force behind the fans has started a wave that consists of #FreeLukeFord. At one time on Wednesday night, the hashtag was actually trending nationwide. That is how much fans want to see Ford on the field. And it just doesn’t make sense for the NCAA not to have approved him yet considering some of the student-athletes who have already been approved.

You can point to a myriad of cases where players have been granted immediate eligibility over the past few seasons. Some of the biggest names in college football are front and center when it comes to this topic.

Justin Fields, a former teammate of Ford at Georgia, enacted a guideline that if there is a situation out of the student-athletes control and it directly impacts the student-athletes health or well-being, that player can get a waiver. He is now the starting quarterback of Ohio State and will be suiting up in 2019.

Tate Martell declared he was going to be transferring after finding out Fields was coming to Ohio State. I still can’t find exactly what Martell’s case was, but he filed a hardship waiver and it was approved by the NCAA. The most I can find on this case was Martell got a lawyer involved. He is now the starting quarterback down at Miami (FL).

I could continue on, but you get the point. If I had my way, I would let players transfer to wherever they wanted to play. But, this isn’t about that. This is about consistency with the NCAA and their transfer policy.

The fact Fields and Martell, among others, were pushed through the waiver system without a hiccup and, yet, we still sit here today without an answer on Ford is baffling. Ford is putting his family first, and that is why he is transferring. This kid just wants his grandparents and family to see him play without breaking the bank. God forbid the NCAA puts logic and empathy on the forefront instead of their own self-interests. #FreeLukeFord