LoyaltyisaCurse
IF AND WHEN HEALTHY...
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...om&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial
Thomas loves football so much that he spent his last year at Miami fighting NCAA eligibility rules to play. As he was set to begin spring football for his final collegiate season, Rick Ross informed him on FaceTime that one of his beats would be showcased on "Apple of My Eye," the opening track on Ross' album Rather You Than Me, featuring Raphael Saadiq. Ross, a Miami native, has known Thomas since high school.
Soon after the release of the song, Thomas says he was contacted by Miami's office of NCAA compliance demanding documentation of income he earned in this profession before he entered college and of payments he had received from music during college.
Although he wasn't held out of any offseason practices or workouts, Thomas says he was told his eligibility hung in the balance. "They kept reminding me, 'Boy if we had a game this Saturday, you won't be playing,'" Thomas says.
He cooperated with the compliance office to remain eligible without profiting off his likeness. He used "Major Nine" as his rap name, a nickname that started as "Nine-Nine" in high school because of his jersey number but evolved in college. He used his Twitter account solely to promote his music and couldn't post his songs on streaming sites for profit. He says he was prohibited from tweeting about Miami or posting pictures wearing Miami attire on that account.
"They were trying to take away my love, football. You can't take that away from me. If somebody takes football away from me right now, Imma find my way back around it. Imma be coaching, doing something."
(The NCAA declined to comment on Thomas' situation, and messages to Miami seeking verification of Thomas' portrayal of his interactions with the compliance office were unreturned.)
Thomas expressed his frustration on "Do Not Disturb" last summer for his mixtape For Sale and then didn't release any music for the rest of the season. He channeled the anger on the field, developing into a leader on a team that went 10-3 and played in the Orange Bowl. He finished the season with 5.5 sacks and tied for a team-high 12.5 tackles for loss.
Constantly drowning in my thoughts this a deep sea
I'm writing letters just to ask if I could use my name
Fake smiles and head nods just to play the game
"They robbing us," Thomas says of the NCAA. "You walk by stores and they got your number in there—some of them even got your name on the back of it—and you can't get no money from them. They feel like they giving us a free education like that's all we need. People still got families at home, and they're struggling. We gotta use those college checks to help our [moms] out and stuff."
