State of Florida CFO Threatens 'Legal Action' Against NCAA To Restore Eligibility For Darrell Jackson
The curious case of Florida State defensive tackle Darrell Jackson's battle to gain eligibility has drawn plenty of national attention. Jackson's waiver appeal to play during the regular season was denied by the NCAA in August due to the Seminoles being his third college stop in two years.
However, this goes deeper than just what's on the surface as Jackson chose to transfer closer to his home of Havana, Florida to be closer to a sick family member. Plus, he made his original decision to join Florida State nearly a month prior to the governing body of college sports revising the rules regarding two-time transfers.
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That's led to disappointment from Jackson ahead of a year where he expected to display his talents to make a potential leap to the NFL. The situation has also garnered a close following from politicians across the state of Florida, who view the NCAA's decision as a gross misruling. 12 U.S. Representatives sent a letter to President Charlie Baker shortly after the news went public requesting him to reverse course.
Following the statement from the NCAA that North Carolina wide receiver Tez Walker is immediately eligible after dealing with some of the same circumstances as Jackson, there's been another call to action. On Friday morning, Jimmy Patronis, the Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal of the State of Florida, fired off another warning shot.
"The NCAA are a bunch of out-of-touch hypocrites. NC threatens antitrust allegations and they punted to save face on their terrible decision. #FSU’s Darrell Jackson must play NOW. We’ll take legal action soon if they don’t reverse course."
Patronis has held his current position with the state for over six years. He previously served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 6th District and a member of the Florida Public Service Commission. He also lobbied in favor of Jackson at the end of the summer.
Could this be the spark that Jackson needs behind his case to get his eligibility restored in the near future? It certainly can't hurt with all of the facts and the people in his corner. It'll be interesting to see how the NCAA handles this after moving back the goalposts due to pressure from North Carolina.
In the meantime, Jackson has continued to practice with the team and is focused on controlling what he can control. Head coach Mike Norvell has been impressed with his mindset during an extremely challenging time as he's behind held back from what he came to do at Florida State.
"He's working. I've been really proud of him. I think he's getting good work, he's approaching every day the way we want him to approach it," Norvell said last week. "He's getting better and he's continuing to push and he's trying to go into every week as if he was playing, which that can be hard. It's hard for a young man to know that they're not going to be able to get on the field on Saturday, but still to get their mindset and approach that this is 'the most important rep of my life', I think he's doing that and you see an improvement out there on the practice field. And just excited for what that's going to be when he's cleared to play."
Jackson began his college career at Maryland before transferring to Miami last season. He totaled 49 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, and a pass deflection during his time with the Terrapins and Hurricanes.
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