By Scott Salomon
Coach Prime has taken up a fight with the NCAA for denying an immediate eligibility waiver for a two-time transfer that left Jackson State to be with Deion Sanders because of mental health issues.
Offensive lineman Tyler Brown transferred to Colorado, which was his second such transfer. Brown first enrolled at Louisiana and then transferred to Jackson State to be with Sanders. He then followed Coach Prime to Colorado.
It seems that Coach Prime has brought the mental health of the player to the forefront and is condemning the NCAA for not granting immediate eligibility to a player that does not deserve it.
“It don’t make sense. Some things just don’t make sense. You say you really care about mental health but when you have someone really dealing with mental health, there’s a problem,” Deion Sanders said. “And then ostracizing him in not allowing him to do what he’s blessed and gifted to do and the thing that presents him peace, that’s trying for a young man.”
The NCAA rules state that if a player transfers twice, he must sit out a year and then become eligible the following year. Sanders is questioning the ruling because he believes that Brown’s mental issues should be taken into consideration despite the rule, which changed this year. Now, there are exceptions for certain illnesses and mental health issues, but they are rare. They also look for exigent circumstances.
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This is the same NCAA that denied immediate eligibility waivers to Florida State’s Darrell Jackson, Jr. and North Carolina’s wide receiver Tez Walker for the very same reason.
What could make Dr. Prime think that this player is any different?
“Tyler Brown is a wonderful kid but he deals with a lot of issues inside,” Sanders said. “He’s seeing specialists and seeing people to deal with these issues and calm these things down.”
The rules different are no different if you have mental health issues. Brown admitted in a video to the NCAA that he suffers from anxiety and depression.
His depression could stem from the fact that his offensive line coach at Louisiana, D.J. Looney, suffered a fatal heart attack one day while the two were together at a team workout. Brown admitted that he has been on anti-depressants since he was 18.
“That hurts me to this day. That’s the day I lost my father figure, my first father figure,” Brown said in a video that Brown posted on YouTube. He also stated that he is still traumatized by the event. “I can still see him fall to the ground and see the nothingness in his eyes.”
Jackson transferred to be closer to home to his ailing mother and Walker transferred back home to be with his elderly grandmother. Two very valid and heart-wrenching reasons. The NCAA apparently holds fast to their rule and they make no exceptions.
“Do you really care (about mental health), or are you saying you care? Are you caring when it’s convenient?” Sanders asked in his Tuesday press conference. “Or when it’s profitable?”
Speaking of Dr. Prime, what did he think the psychosis of the 75 players that he told to pack up and leave would become, once he got to Colorado?
I always thought that a coach’s job is to help shape, mold, and develop the minds and talents of his players. I wonder how they are feeling now that you jettisoned them away from the school that they yearned to play for so you can bring in your own players.
Many of the players that were transitioned to other schools, were from Colorado and they were forced to leave their comfort zone, their friends and family and look for another place to become student athletes.
Dr. Prime treated them like second-class citizens and probably created more mental problems than he is looking to resolve.
