January 10th, 2019 at 2:23 PM ^
Seems absurd that he would gain immediate eligibility, but he has the same lawyer Shea had, and the guy, who is a serious lawyer from a good firm, says he expects him to gain eligibility and there is more to the story than has been reported, so maybe he succeeds.
January 10th, 2019 at 2:45 PM ^
So is UGA going to fight the eligibility and claim that they sufficiently solved the problem? Because I think that is a big piece of this. Remember Ole Miss fought Shea's eligibility for awhile before finally giving up and conceeding.
January 10th, 2019 at 3:03 PM ^
The consensus seems to be, no, UGA will not be fighting this.
January 10th, 2019 at 3:56 PM ^
Why in the world would Georgia not fight this?
If he is granted immediate transfer under the guise of "U of Georgia is not safe for African American student athletes", that is a very public stain on GA who we can be sure is very sensitive to that kind of allegation and perception.
Why would they just sit idly by and let that accusation be de-facto validated by their silence?
January 10th, 2019 at 6:39 PM ^
One possible explanation: maybe UGA paid Fields a ton of money to sign with them? If they did, UGA would have no choice but to waive any objection to Fields’ transfer request to avoid the payment coming to light.
January 11th, 2019 at 12:06 AM ^
So by that measure, is UGA agreeing that they are enabling a racist environment? Seems like UGA should be hiring lawyers and defending their "good" name.
January 10th, 2019 at 3:53 PM ^
This is the official language:
"a victim of objective, documented egregious behavior by a student at the university"
What from that language is unclear? Do you want to make the argument that a fellow student calling Justin Fields the N-word isn't "objectively egregious"? Feel free. Safety is irrelevant. The language doesn't use the word safe at all.
The standard is "objectively egregious."
January 10th, 2019 at 4:38 PM ^
5. Modification of NCAA Division I Committee for Legislative Relief NCAA Division I Four-Year College Transfers Directive.
The Council approved a modification, effective immediately, for student-athletes seeking eligibility for the 2018-19 academic year and thereafter, to the Committee for Legislative Relief four-year college undergraduate transfer directive to include an academic analysis and permit immediate eligibility to be provided, in limited circumstances, for student-athletes who are not eligible to use the one-time
transfer exception. Specifically, immediate eligibility may be provided to a transfer student-athlete, provided: (Fairness/Well-Being/Operational)a. The transfer is due to documented mitigating circumstances that are outside the student-athlete's control and directly impact the health, safety and well-being of the student-athlete;
"...health, safety, and well-being...". Sorry to piss on your parade. He'll probably get eligibility because the NCAA has the backbone of a jellyfish and it's Ohio State, but his case is extremely weak given the letter of the regs.
January 10th, 2019 at 4:15 PM ^
One of the stories I heard is that Fields is also a baseball athlete. After the racial incident with the baseball player, Fields didn't feel safe returning to baseball. By transfering to Ohio State, he will now have the opportunity to join a baseball team. That he just so happens to also play QB and would eligible for football as well? Well that is just a lucky coincidence.
January 10th, 2019 at 4:20 PM ^
So your 6’4” 235 LB QB on a D1 football team doesn’t feel safe on campus? What a bunch of complete bullshit.
January 10th, 2019 at 4:34 PM ^
Where is everyone getting the word "safe" from?? Fields doesn't have to feel unsafe. Who says he feels unsafe? All Fields has to be is a victim of egregious conduct by a fellow student. That's all! Pretty low bar.
January 10th, 2019 at 5:22 PM ^
The important thing here is the NCAA and Georgia don't want any part of this case. They don't need a racial incident out in the news every day for the next 3 months.
He will get his exemption and quickly.
January 10th, 2019 at 2:02 PM ^
This is hilarious since his sister is apparently going to Georgia. Seems she feels safe enough to go there.
January 10th, 2019 at 2:05 PM ^
Those darn sexist racists . . . .
January 10th, 2019 at 2:08 PM ^
Exactly, I forgot to mention that, thanks. That’s kind of a kneecapper to his case too.
January 10th, 2019 at 2:23 PM ^
The atmosphere was so dangerous that he stayed for three more months before deciding to leave? This is from his attorney on the linked article:
"the September incident is not the only issue Fields plans to raise in his waiver request."
"Nobody who's on social media would have a problem with Justin getting a waiver if they knew the whole story,"
Will be interesting to see what these other issues are.
January 10th, 2019 at 2:40 PM ^
If Fields get the immediate transfer based on this issue will Georgia ever recruit another African American? The NCAA will have taken the stand that Athens is unsafe for them. The negative recruiting would be epic.
January 10th, 2019 at 2:42 PM ^
Will the whole story come out then? Are NCAA cases public record or is he protected by privacy laws?
January 10th, 2019 at 3:00 PM ^
Would be a good question to send Ira/Sam to ask Joe Simon.
January 10th, 2019 at 2:50 PM ^
On the grounds that all the 'adults' in this enterprise are allowed to go wherever they want whenever they want and almost no one blinks an eye (unless they go to a rival school of course) and that its pretty ridiculous that the youngest, least powerful, and least compensated participants in the sham that is amateur college football are held to a higher standard than any of the supposed 'adults'.
January 10th, 2019 at 3:03 PM ^
The only one Fields actually feels threatened by is Fromm.
That's why he wants to transfer.
January 10th, 2019 at 1:56 PM ^
I really can't see how the NCAA would grant him immediate eligibility but it is the NCAA and OSU so yea, Fields prolly will get immediate eligibility.
January 10th, 2019 at 2:09 PM ^
I dunno, man. If you're the NCAA, do you want to be telling an African American kid "yeah, sure, that was racially hostile, but it wasn't THAT bad since weren't harassed enough." Especially when a bunch of kids playing D1 football could already sympathize with having faced racial prejudice at some point in their life.
NCAA has alienated the student-athletes plenty at this point. This would just make things worse.
January 10th, 2019 at 2:19 PM ^
I am of the same mindset. We all KNOW that his reasoning is B.S., but he played the trump card. No organization wants to go to war over that and be (potentially) crucified in the media.
January 10th, 2019 at 2:25 PM ^
The NCAA can both be sympathetic to a bad, isolated incident, as well as rightly unwilling to set an insane precedent for what constitutes “unsafe” or “dangerous”.
January 10th, 2019 at 2:34 PM ^
Totally agree & I agree the Fields rationale is total BS.
HOWEVER, does the NCAA actually bring up evidence against the petitioner to proactively poke holes in his argument? Or do they just rely on any other parties to provide an opposition brief to the panel making the decision?
Because yes, there are a TON of factors weighing against the granting of immediate eligibility for Fields. But if UGA isn't going to fight it, and if the NCAA panel themselves don't use internal investigators to put up a contra-argument to highlight those negative fact patterns weighing against the petition, then does Fields basically just get a free pass?
January 10th, 2019 at 2:45 PM ^
See, this is basically where it falls apart. It's not that there is plenty of evidence to show that the guy probably didn't have a reason to continue to feel unsafe (a good reason to not grant eligibility), or that this issue is so serious and believable that the NCAA probably has to save face and agree (good reason it could be granted).
Rather, Georgia HAS to fight this with everything they have. They can't even take the Ole Miss approach and say we just won't dispute his claim.. Doing anything other than being emphatic that there is no cause for players to feel unsafe for racial reasons on campus is akin to a death sentence for future recruiting. I mean. "yeah maybe they will pay you as much or more than we are offering, but is it really worth it for 3 years of constant harassment and worse? F___ those bulldogs, they don't care about you, don't help them out".: Every recruiter ever who's 4-5star target is considering Georgia.
January 10th, 2019 at 3:25 PM ^
I disagree, they can simply say "we care about how our student athletes are feeling and didn't want to stand in his way"
January 10th, 2019 at 4:13 PM ^
Thankfully, the NCAA doesn't have to set any precedent as to what type of conduct constitutes either of those words. They just have to set precedent as to what "objectively egregious" means in the context of behavior perpetrated on one student by another.
Egregious means "outstandingly bad; shocking." If you want to die on the hill that a Georgia baseball player (and potential Fields teammate, should he have chosen to play baseball too) shouting "Put the N___ in!" from the stands of a Georgia game, isn't outstandingly bad and shocking, that's your right.
January 10th, 2019 at 4:31 PM ^
its horrible. but its not transfer-worthy. and its a joke considering not only did he wait months to make a decision, but also his sister is still attending the same school. as much as i hate the 'N' word, you can hear it on TV, rap songs, NFL games, etc. all day long.
January 10th, 2019 at 3:05 PM ^
I see both sides of this, but this makes it open season for every other kid to make this claim if it goes through. NCAA basically becomes free agency and kids can claim they feel unsafe and make up an allegation of hostility.
January 10th, 2019 at 3:43 PM ^
Even MORE of an NCAA headache is that it actually would NOT be a uniform free-agency scenario at first. It'd only be that way for people with backgrounds that were historically discriminated against--people of color, gay folks, etc.
The rest of the student-athlete pool would be stuck with the old rules & traditional very high bar to get their petitions granted.
Those kids would have to show a really difficult burden of a systematic locker room bullying, hazing, etc. Whereas the former set could offer the Fields argument: "Yeah, one guy called me the N-word, but we are still on good terms, the school expelled him pretty quickly after the incident, I stayed on my team/in school for several months after that all happened, my little sister is still going to matriculate here next year...trust me, it is TOTALLY NOT about the fact that I'm getting zero playing time...."
Basically, the NCAA would be setting a precedent that certain types of accusations (racially charged, bullying based on sexual orientation, etc.) are far more serious, and thus despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, will still be enough to win a petition.
So, at least initially, it'd invite a ton of controversey b/c you'll have one segmet of the student population getting immediate eligibility pretty easily, and the rest of the student athletes being forced to clear a much higher threshold to get theirs.
I could easily see that being a major problem for the NCAA in the short term, which would put them on a glide path to 100% free-agency for everybody shortly thereafter b/c they don't want to deal w/ the politically charged headache in the short-term aftermath of Fields winning it with a very weak case.
Again though, we are all assuming that the major facts of the Fields case are known. Maybe there are some other factors out there that people aren't privy to that would make the Fields case much stronger than it is right now.
January 10th, 2019 at 1:58 PM ^
That was my first thought. I’d honestly be shocked if Fields was eligible, so I’m assuming Tate will just stick around with his name in the portal until he knows Fields’ fate. If Fields is eligible, Martell will bounce to a school that can now recruit him. If Fields is ineligible, Martell will stay and start.
January 10th, 2019 at 2:18 PM ^
They dragged the Patterson appeal out for months and his was basically a slam-dunk case. I still think the NCAA really really doesn't want to open this door because if they do next year they are going to have 100 kids trying to transfer for the exact same reason.
The head coaches are going to push back hard on this behind the scenes. The chaos that will ensue is going to be a major headache for them.
January 10th, 2019 at 2:38 PM ^
Recalling Patterson's case, didn't Ole Miss at first contest his lawyer's first filing, after which they came to an agreement to support a revised waiver request that was more softly worded (as to Ole Miss's culpability); and then the NCAA granted the waiver because the losing university supported it? That's how I would envision this could play out in Fields' case too -- his lawyer (same guy as Patterson used) flashes a bit of UGA's dirty laundry as a way to force UGA to the negotiating table. UGA then agrees to support the waiver to protect its institutional reputation.
Only possible impediment I can see is if the NCAA decides it needs to stop that precedent from becoming established -- that the way around the transfer rule is just to hire a strong-armed lawyer.
January 10th, 2019 at 2:46 PM ^
If UGA admits that their campus isn't safe for black students, good luck recruiting. I'd use it against them as a recruiter.
Yeah, Athens is so fucked up that a kid had to transfer because of all the racists there. We don't have that problem in Ann Arbor, maybe you should think about Michigan?
January 10th, 2019 at 2:52 PM ^
Exactly. This is why Georgia has to fight this with everything it has. Agreeing not to deny that your university paid for hookers for recruits and maybe inflated the truth to a few players is vastly different than agreeing not to deny that your university is racist.
January 10th, 2019 at 2:58 PM ^
Agreed. But didn't Ole Miss agree to support Patterson's waiver basically in exchange for the petition stripping out all of the truly damning allegations against it? UGA would agree to support a bland waiver request in exchange for Field's lawyer not going public with inflammatory stuff that (whether true or not) would kill its ability to recruit (as well as open the door to future transfers).
January 10th, 2019 at 3:17 PM ^
His petition is that he doesn't feel safe. You can strip whatever allegations out of there you want, but Georgia can't agree to support his request since this is already out there. They aren't going to get him to recant it, and absent that they have to fight this and really try to make it out like he's just looking for playing time.
Even if he puts in a new request, Georgia has to know people are still going to use it against them in a big way. " Yeah, they made it sound neutral in the end (without denying anything), but the bottom line, is the guy ended up transferring and got immediate eligibility because that university is so toxic for players like you".
January 10th, 2019 at 3:26 PM ^
Yeah the way I see it UGA has to fight this as hard as they can on all front, including in the media if they can. This is a terrible look for them if it goes through.
January 10th, 2019 at 4:00 PM ^
Nah, they could half-way do it like this:
UGA Press Release:
"The University of Georgia is a community of great scholarship, diversity, and tolerance. We strive every day to ensure the safety and well-being of our students so that they can learn and grow to become the leaders of tomrrow. However, since we also value the feelings and perceptions of each student as a unique individual, the University of Georia will not seek the denial of Mr. Fields' NCAA petition request for immediate eligibility, despite our fundamental disagreement with the underlying basis. We wish the best of luck to Mr. Fields in his future academic and athletic endeavors."
Unless there is a huge flood of guys suddenly jumping ship due to this, it won't harm recruiting. Everybody knows this is a BS case, so his former UGA teammates will assure UGA potential recruits that it was just a cover for Fields bailing due to lack of playing time.
What I still don't get is the NCAA petition review procedure itself. If the UGA declines to BLOCK it & therefore isn't even in the room to provide evidence that undercuts his petition, does ANY of that other evidene get considered? Does an in-house NCAA team present a competing memo against the petition based on their own research? Or does the NCAA panel essentially just get to her a one-sided story?
January 10th, 2019 at 2:27 PM ^
But if you are Martell, why start this year only to be passed over when Fields becomes eligible the following season? He’s been recruited over - so better to move to a destination where he is wanted and will be utilized.
January 10th, 2019 at 9:11 PM ^
If you think there's anyway the NCAA doesn't grant Fields waiver...I've got a bridge to sell you.
NCAA wants no part of what will follow if they make a black student athlete, who was verbally harassed by a racist, sit.
What would follow in the media would be something to behold. They've already compared the NCAA to a "plantation" anyway. This would be the final straw. And it would get national coverage.
NCAA will probably take all of 5 minutes discussing this case.
January 10th, 2019 at 1:52 PM ^
Would be hilarious if Tate transferred but Fields wasn't granted eligibility. We all know that won't happen though.
January 10th, 2019 at 1:53 PM ^
You can say that again....
January 10th, 2019 at 1:52 PM ^
What is transfer protal? Serious question.
January 10th, 2019 at 1:55 PM ^
You put your name in, and other schools can contact you. You don't have to transfer, but it's like a FA thing. (free agency)
January 10th, 2019 at 1:55 PM ^
Supposed to be portal. It's where the athletes register so other teams can contact them and recruit them for a transfer.
January 10th, 2019 at 1:55 PM ^
It tends to swell as men age.
January 10th, 2019 at 1:55 PM ^
It's where the protozoans go to procreate.