So much for that plan.
In mid-June, Pat Swilling Jr., the son of Georgia Tech and NFL standout Pat Swilling, revealed that he planned to walk-on to the Tulsa football team. Swilling was no ordinary walk-on, though, as he had recently completed his four years of eligibility as a Golden Hurricane basketball player. There was the also the suspension that cost him the final 11 games of his collegiate career, a suspension born out of allegations of rape.
Earlier this week, Swilling took to Twitter to explain that the NCAA denied his appeal for a waiver that would’ve permitted him to play football in 2014.
Today the @NCAA denied my request of a Progress Towards Degree waiver to play football this semester for the University of Tulsa (cont)
— Patrick Swilling Jr. (@patrickswilling) August 20, 2014
Because they lacked confidence I would complete my remaining 27hrs left to graduate while they insisted they understood the circumstances.
— Patrick Swilling Jr. (@patrickswilling) August 20, 2014
I truly appreciate the oppurtunity @TUCoachBlank and the program has given me and I look foward to following our success this season. #Blue
— Patrick Swilling Jr. (@patrickswilling) August 20, 2014
Under normal circumstances, a player in one sport who has not used his redshirt season can use a loophole in NCAA bylaws to play an “extra” season in another sport. However, Swilling had incomplete grades for the spring semester that have been attributed to the rape investigation.
No charges were ever filed against Swilling, and a protective order that had been issued against him was dropped in April. However, on Monday, the alleged victim filed a federal lawsuit against the university, with Tulsa World writing that the suit states “TU was negligent and failed to protect a female student’s rights under federal Title IX laws by not properly investigating multiple rape allegations against Swilling.”
Swilling fired back at his accuser in a letter, calling her a “cleat chaser” and denying any type of sexual assault took place.