5:16 p.m. ET Update:
According to Grace Raynor of The Athletic, it was Clemson, not the NCAA, that forced Lawrence and Mowry to take down the page. Of course, Clemson did that based on its compliance department’s interpretation of NCAA rules, but it’s an important distinction.
Important context regarding the Trevor Lawrence situation: Clemson did not hear directly from the NCAA. It was the school's compliance department that asked him to take it down in keeping with NCAA rules. @TheAthleticCFB
— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) March 24, 2020
Trevor Lawrence and his girlfriend, Anderson University soccer player Marissa Mowry, started a GoFundMe page attempting to raise money for people affected by the coronavirus. The page, which listed Mowry as its owner and Lawrence as its beneficiary, raised $2,670 as of Monday. However, the page is no longer accepting donation, as Clemson forced the couple to shutter it in accordance with NCAA rules prohibiting the usage of name, image and likeness for crowd funding campaigns.
“Unfortunately Trevor cannot be a part of this anymore due to compliance and some rules, so he can’t help out anymore,” Mowry said in a video on her Instagram page. “And also we have to take down the GoFundMe page.”
The move comes as the NCAA is working with Congress to liberalize its stance on name, image and likeness payments for athletes, and by 2023 or sooner college athletes will possibly -- and quite likely -- be able to make money for themselves based on their name, image and likeness.
But in 2020, Lawrence cannot raise money for other people simply because he’s Trevor Lawrence.
The couple plans to donate the money to Meals on Wheels and No Kid Hungry.
“Thank you guys, all of y’all that donated. 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,” Lawrence said in a post on Mowry’s Instagram account. “So we really appreciate y’all. Sorry for all of the drama and all of the confusion but we got it worked out.”
