Column: Inconsistent Ruling Hurts Momah

After two season-ending injuries outside of his control, Boston College wide receiver Ifeanyi Momah has been subjected to the mercy of the NCAA crapshoot and came out at the wrong end of yet another inconsistent ruling by the organization. It was announced this week that Momah, who missed all of the 2009 season due to a knee injury and only appeared in the 2011 opener before being sidelined for the year, will not be granted a sixth year of eligibility after applying for a medical hardship. BC is appealing the decision, but precedent shows that Momah deserved the hardship outright.

Just last season, University of Houston quarterback Case Keenum was granted the same hardship after redshirting his freshman season and missing his senior season with a torn ligament in his third game. Houston originally thought Keenum was a longshot for the sixth year, but after proving that a shoulder injury was the reason for his first redshirt the NCAA allowed Keenum to play. All other accounts of the hardship being granted, such as Florida Atlantic's Jeff Blanchard in 2010 and Purdue's Robert Marve earlier this week, include two full seasons missed because of injury. Every account of the hardship being granted matches up with Momah's situation.

A few recent rejections of the hardship by the NCAA include athletes who redshirted without injury such as Ball State's Madaris Grant, who took the typical freshman year redshirt. In 2008, Cincinnati quarterback Ben Mauk was denied the hardship after missing two full seasons to injury, but the reason behind his first missed season was seen as ambiguous by the NCAA.

The committee behind the decision issued a statement saying, "The committee was unable to identify compelling factors that might be viewed as beyond the control of the student-athlete and the University of Cincinnati."

It is possible that Momah is facing the same issue with the NCAA that Mauk did. Momah was in the process of being moved to a defensive lineman in 2009 before being redshirted with a knee injury. The NCAA may be preventing Momah from receiving a sixth year over a dispute on whether or not he missed the 2009 season because of reasons outside of his control. The NCAA might be concerned that Momah's position change had more to do with the redshirt than the knee injury did. If BC can prove this is not the case in its appeal, hopefully the NCAA will change its decision.

Even if these hypothetical concerns of the NCAA are true, they do not warrant withholding Momah from the fourth year of football he deserves. Head football coach Frank Spaziani expressed his disagreement with the ruling to The Globe this week.

"If any kid deserves a chance to get to the next level, it is him," Spaziani said. "I don't care if he gets another year and plays some place else. He deserves a chance to play out his career as far as he can take it."

Momah served as a captain and a leader during his time at BC, he has earned his degree, and now he deserves the chance to earn a spot in the NFL. If the NCAA does not appeal its ruling, it will make it very difficult for the talented wide receiver to get drafted. Rarely do pro teams take risks on players coming off season-ending injuries, and if so they are usually picked up late in the draft. Given time to recover and another full season back at BC, Momah could be sitting high on draft boards this time next year just like Houston's Keenum.

Overturning this decision would hurt no one, but ignoring the appeal would provide an unnecessary setback to a good, talented kid who has worked hard to get to where he is. It is another example of the NCAA showing a lack of concern for Division I athletes while being more concerned with itself. Momah has met all of the qualifications for the hardship, and keeping him off the field this fall would just be another example of the NCAA making inconsistent, arbitrary rulings that make little sense. They can either allow Momah to stay at school and have the proper final season he deserves building toward a pro career, or they can ignore his request and mistreat yet another student athlete.