ORLANDO
The future of Justin Fields is unclear, even as the NCAA held its annual convention in Orlando over the weekend.
Fields, a quarterback at OSU enrolled at the school this week after spending his first season playing college football at the University Georgia. He has asked the NCAA for immediate eligibility in hopes of playing this academic year.
Typically, Fields would have to sit out a year after transferring, but his attorney, Thomas Mars, has said that a new NCAA transfer waiver guideline that was put in place last April should be utilized.
Fields’ decision to transfer was heightened, in part, after he was the subject of racist comments.
“My time at the University of Georgia has given me the opportunity to refine my skills under great coaches and to play with incredibly talented teammates who’ve become like brothers to me,” said Fields in a statement posted to social media where he announced that he had decided to transfer to OSU to play for the Buckeyes. “I’ll miss my teammates more than they’ll ever know, and I wish them all the best as they get ready for another season. I hope the bonds we’ve developed this past year will never be broken by where we choose to play football or where we end up after college.”
Fields’ request for the immediate transfer waiver has received public support from civil rights leader, the Rev. Al Sharpton, who said that the 19-year-old from Kennesaw, Georgia should be allowed to play football this year.
