Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence and his girlfriend, Anderson University soccer player Marissa Mowry, are doing their best to spread some love during this uncertain time caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The couple sent out a video message on Monday saying they had started a GoFundMe page to help raise money for families in need, and they wanted to write letters of encouragement to people directly impacted by the virus or workers in medical fields.
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That video and GoFundMe page had to be taken down, as there were thought to be some NCAA compliance issues, Mowry said in another video Monday night. NCAA policy states that athletes cannot use their name, image or likeness for crowdfunding. But on Tuesday, the NCAA made an exception during the coronavirus outbreak.
We are appreciative of the action taken by the NCAA this evening. pic.twitter.com/rq4zI8PpDR
— Clemson Athletics (@ClemsonTigers) March 24, 2020
“Thank y’all so much for granting a waiver,” Lawrence said in an Instagram story. “They’re allowing us to continue to raise money for what we were doing originally.” He and Mowry plan to take this week to think through how “to be as efficient and help as many people as possible.”
The money that was raised originally — more than $2,500, they said in an Instagram story — will be given to Meals on Wheels and No Kid Hungry, and Mowry encouraged people to continue donating to those organizations.
And they still plan to write letters.
“So if you want to send us someone who’s been directly affected by the coronavirus or send us someone who works in the medical field, we would love to write them a letter,” said Mowry, who included their email address in the comments with the Instagram video.
“Our intentions were to try and help everyone and that’s changed a little bit, but we’re still going to do our best to love on y’all and support one another during this hard time,” she said Monday.
Mowry, a sophomore at Anderson Unversity (16 miles southeast of Clemson), describes herself as a “Daughter of the King” on Instagram, where she often talks about her faith. In one post last summer, she wrote to fellow women, “You’re more than enough. It’s not Trevor’s role to make me feel complete. I am complete in Jesus. You are complete in Jesus. You’re enough for him. You’re loved by him. He adores you. … So much health will come into your relationships when you walk in the identity God has called you. When you walk in the truth of who you are. A daughter of God.”
Identity in Christ is also something Lawrence has publicly talked about. In the summer of 2018, he went on a retreat called “The Gauntlet” to Daytona Beach, Fla., with South Carolina’s NewSpring Church. On that retreat, Lawrence told Sports Illustrated, he “was truly saved.” He discovered his identity in Christ.
“I don’t think anyone has abilities for no reason,” Lawrence told Sports Illustrated. “I don’t think anything is coincidence. God gave me these things for a reason, not just talent on the field, but other opportunities to be a light to people.”
Soon after he returned from Daytona Beach, Lawrence began to prepare for his freshman season. As his football talent began to show and the media began to learn more about him, Lawrence reaffirmed where his identity lies.
“I put my identity in what Christ says, who He thinks I am and who I know that He says I am,” he said in September 2018. “Like I said, it really does not matter what people think of me or how good they think I play. That does not really matter. That has been a big thing for me, in my situation, just knowing that and having confidence in that.”
In two years at Clemson, Lawrence has led the Tigers to two national championship games, winning in 2019. He will enter his junior season in 2020 as one of the early Heisman Trophy candidates. It may be his last year in college, as many expect him to declare for the 2021 NFL Draft.
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