Former Ohio State quarterback Tate Martell was ruled eligible to play the 2019 season by the NCAA.
The University of Miami announced the ruling Tuesday afternoon.
It’s not clear what grounds the NCAA used to grant Martell the waiver.
Miami’s statement references Ohio State’s “assistance and support throughout the waiver process.”
Back in December, Martell was seemingly poised to win the starting quarterback job in Columbus for 2019.
Just days before the Rose Bowl, Martell told reporters that he was “100 percent” confident that he would be the Buckeyes’ 2019 starter.
He scoffed at the notion that he would leave Columbus if Justin Fields transferred in.
“Why would I leave for somebody who hasn’t put a single second into this program yet?” he said at Rose Bowl media day. “I’ve put two years of working my ass off into something that I’ve been praying for and dreaming of my whole life. To just run from somebody that hasn’t put a single second into workouts or anything like that and doesn’t know what the program is all about, there’s not a chance.”
Less than two weeks later, he entered his name in the NCAA Transfer portal.
You can see Martell’s tweet announcing the decision and read the full release from Miami below.
we aren’t ready yet.. but we will be!
oh btw… I’M ELIGIBLE TO PLAY! pic.twitter.com/jSr9wmwiqi
— TATE MARTELL (@TheTateMartell) March 19, 2019
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami football program announced Tuesday that the National Collegiate Athletic Association has approved a waiver for quarterback Tate Martell, which makes him immediately eligible for competition.
“We are pleased with this ruling and appreciate the NCAA recognizing that this waiver met the criteria under the membership established guidelines,” Director of Athletics Blake James said. “We would like to thank the NCAA, as well as Ohio State University, for their assistance and support throughout the waiver process. We look forward to seeing Tate compete for the Hurricanes this season.”
Martell, a redshirt sophomore from Las Vegas, transferred to UM from Ohio State in January. He has three seasons of eligibility remaining.
Best of luck Tate. Go get em! Hope to see you and Joe Burrow in the Playoffs… wouldn’t that be something?
Read an article about Jonny Manziel err Tate Martell and three reasons why he was declared eligible. Disappointed in the article because they never did state why he was given eligibility. I completely agree with Todd who states: “I really don’t understand this ruling at all and it seems like it will open up a can of worms for everyone being eligible for any reason at all whatsoever now… Doesn’t really seem to make sense to me.”
Is the excuse…I’m not going to start so I’m packing my bags a valid reason? Could it be that time spent in the system alone and you still will not be the starter a valid reason?
Thanks for the article Tom….look forward to more as spring practice resumes.
I keep seeing criticisms of the ruling from fans and “other” alike – claiming he bailed because he didn’t want to compete for the start….. Fields got the same treatment.
Tate’s coach retired – and that is as legit as any reason. jmho
i completely agree.
I prefer to focus on the Buckeyes. More news about Spring practice would be welcome.
The team was off all of last week, so there hasn’t really been anything new to report.
We will be at OSU pro day tomorrow and have new stories and photos from there.
Interesting comment if one contrasts it to a year ago when most OSU fans seemed to have an anticipatory stake in Joe Burrows’ transfer.
Well, Joe had already graduated and had more than proven he could play whereas Tate had not proven himself and also made the mistake of tweeting one thing and doing another.
This doesn’t affect my positive feelings aboth BOTH these guys but it did put a different slant on Tate’s situation.
I really don’t understand this ruling at all and it seems like it will open up a can if worms for everyone being eligible for any reason at all whatsoever now… Doesn’t really seem to make sense to me
Very interesting – not at all unexpected. Now all of us Buckeye fans can do two things: 1) Wish Martell the best in his new role at Miami, and 2) hope he doesn’t do so well that we’ll be wishing he had stayed at OSU, instead of Justin Fields transferring in.
Time will tell, but this will definitely make the 2019 season more interesting – tracking Fields and/or Baldwin’s progress, while also checking in to see how Joe Burrow does in his second year at LSU and Martell does at Miami.