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A GoFundMe page made by Clemson star quarterback Trevor Lawrence and his girlfriend Marissa Mowry to raise money for coronavirus victims and their families was restored Tuesday night after there was confusion whether it was in violation of NCAA rules.
Hours after the page was launched on Monday, Clemson asked Lawrence to delete it in accordance with the NCAA rules that forbid using an athlete’s name, image and likeness for crowdfunding.
But the NCAA initially drew the ire of social-media onlookers, who had been under the impression that the college sports governing body was to blame for the page being removed.
In a statement Tuesday night, the NCAA confirmed that it had not asked Lawrence to take down the page and that it “applaud[s] Trevor for his efforts.” It also said it was encouraging schools to be flexible and make “necessary adjustments” to the rule, due to the coroanvirus outbreak.
Shortly after, the NCAA and Clemson decided to allow Lawrence and Mowry, a soccer player at Anderson University, to restore the campaign, according to The State.
Trevor LawrenceGetty ImagesLawrence and Mowry raised $2,670 before their efforts were halted. They were planning to donate the money to Meals on Wheels America and No Kid Hungry, the couple said on Instagram before the page was restored.
“Thank you guys, all of y’all that donated,” Lawrence said. “It’s really much appreciated. It’s going to help some kids and some elderly [people] somewhere, so it’s going to be very helpful. So we really appreciate y’all. Sorry for all of the drama and all of the confusion but we got it worked out.
“Our intentions were to try to help everyone,” Mowry said. “That’s changed a little bit, but we’re still going to do our best to love on y’all and support one another during this hard time.”
Lawrence is in his sophomore year at Clemson and has led the Tigers to back-to-back college football playoff national title games — winning in 2019 and losing in 2020. He is expected to be the top quarterback taken in the 2021 NFL draft.
