Illinois fans start 'Free Luke Ford' campaign on Twitter for NCAA waiver, Georgia faithful show support
Fans of the Fighting Illini are tired of waiting on the NCAA. Tight end Luke Ford made a decision to leave Georgia and transfer to Illinois to complete his college football career months ago, but a ruling on his eligibility for the 2019 season is still looming.
After months of waiting, fans have kickstarted a #FreeLukeFord campaign on Twitter, hoping to urge the NCAA to make its decision on Ford — hoping he’s granted a waiver and allowed to play immediately.
Ford, an Illinois native, decided to transfer to Illinois to be closer to his family. Fans have grown impatient as decisions on Justin Fields (Ohio State) and Tate Martell (Miami) have been made, allowing both quarterbacks to play immediately.
Here are just some of the tweets from the campaign:
If Luke Ford had transferred to Ohio State he would have had his @NCAA ruling within the week. #freeLukeFord
— Ian Gold (@iansgold) April 18, 2019
Tate Martell: I couldn’t win the job, transfers and gets waiver.
Justin Fields: I couldn’t win the job, transfers and gets waiver.
Luke Ford: I want to come home to Illinois so my sick grandfather can watch me play; waiver pending.#FreeLukeFord
— Aarman Sethi (@asethi03) April 18, 2019
#FreeLukeFord @NCAA you guys need to do the right thing or else it's about to get really bad for you publicly. If Justin Fields and Tate Martell can play then Luke sure as hell can. RT this Illini fans…this is not fair!
— Randy Toye (@randy_toye) April 18, 2019
NCAA has no logic behind giving Fields and Martell “HaRdShIP wAiVeRs” because they didn’t win their job, and then not granting Luke Ford eligibility who transferred to be closer to his family and his sick grandfather. #FREELUKEFORD @lukeredx97
— Harrison Brown (@Hbrownn11) April 18, 2019
Hey #NCAA Free Luke Ford @IlliniFootball #FreeLukeFord pic.twitter.com/haqkXcnEIf
— Tracey Wilson (@traceywilson67) April 18, 2019
Free my dog #FreeLukeFord
— Jake Hansen (@Juggs35) April 18, 2019
Why the hell is this even a thing right now. Luke should already be free. Damn NCAA get your stuff together. #FreeLukeFord @lukeredx97 #Illini
— Writing Illini (@WritingIlliniFS) April 18, 2019
But the #FreeLukeFord campaign extends past Illinois. Even Georgia fans are showing support for the former Bulldogs tight end, hoping he’s granted immediate eligibility:
If you don’t want to be behind it, cool, but I’m all #FreeLukeFord @NCAA https://t.co/2b3ekiddie
— UGA Supporters (@Support_UGA) April 18, 2019
The amount of support around the country for Luke Ford and his family, particularly by Georgia fans, has been nothing but first class. 👏#FreeLukeFord
— Aarman Sethi (@asethi03) April 18, 2019
Let my guy @lukeredx97 play. #FreeLukeFord
— Rabid Hairy Dawg 🐶🔴⚫ (@DawgHairy) April 18, 2019
Dawgnation let's go!!!! #FreeLukeFord https://t.co/eCr6zI8NWu
— Bonnie Watson (@BonnieWatson01) April 18, 2019
The very idea that #freeLukeFord HAS to be a thing is asinine. We got guys granted immediate eligibility just because they were afraid they were going to get beat out and we can’t let this young man play in front of ill family members? Do the RIGHT thing NCAA, it’s not hard.
— Thomas R White IM (@dawggonehouse) April 18, 2019
That’s pretty cool, and not something you see too frequently.
Everyone seems to be pulling together to show support for Ford and his eligibility. We’ll see if this new trending topic on Twitter urges the NCAA to make a quicker decision.
