The attorney for Trinidad Chambliss is making another effort to convince the NCAA to clear the Ole Miss quarterback for a sixth year of eligibility.
The university made a third filing to the NCAA on Wednesday on behalf of Chambliss’ eligibility waiver — a four-page document that was drafted by attorney Tom Mars.
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In the latest filing, Mars pushes back against the NCAA’s original assertion that the school did not provide sufficient medical evidence to meet its standard for granting the waiver, and he suggested the potential for legal action in a Mississippi court.
“To avoid a Mississippi Circuit Court concluding that these dual standards are not unlawfully arbitrary and capricious, the NCAA would have to provide a legitimate reason why its bylaws contain two different standards for medical documentation that deal with the same situation,” Mars wrote. “That might be a tough hill to climb.”
In a story Monday, Yahoo Sports detailed the situation with Chambliss, who is seeking a sixth year of eligibility through the NCAA’s waiver process. He believes that an ailment — respiratory issues tied to an eventual diagnosis of enlarged tonsils and subsequent surgery — prevented him from playing the 2022 season. He is requesting a medical hardship for that year. Chambliss used his redshirt the year before as a freshman at Division II Ferris State.
In his latest letter, Mars says the NCAA’s case manager told an Ole Miss administrator that the statement from Chambliss’ physician was “sufficient proof” of his incapacity to play in 2022 but that the staff was concerned about lack of “contemporaneous medical documentation.”
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Mars reemphasizes that Chambliss’ health condition “was far more serious than just a simple case of tonsillitis” and that it spanned the entire 2022-23 season. He rebuffs the NCAA claim that Ole Miss “failed to meet” the medical documentation standard and that it “would not withstand scrutiny in a court of law.”
Since the Chambliss family retained Mars in mid-December, the attorney has made three filings to the NCAA totaling nearly 100 pages.
In an interesting wrinkle, LSU coach Lane Kiffin, three weeks after leaving Ole Miss, was the one to first contact and convince Mars to help Chambliss in the case. Mars confirmed that news when reached Wednesday. He offered no other comment about Kiffin’s role.
The NCAA originally signaled to Ole Miss that it needed more information to grant Chambliss’ waiver request. The state of the waiver is unclear, and no timeline for a decision exists. The NCAA D-I Academic Eligibility Committee is not scheduled to meet this week, but is slated for two days of in-person meetings next week from the NCAA convention near Washington, D.C.
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Ole Miss, 13-1 and the sixth seed in the College Football Playoff, meets 10th-seeded Miami (12-2) on Thursday night in the semifinals held at the Fiesta Bowl. Earlier this week, Chambliss re-signed with the Rebels in a move contingent on him being granted his sixth year.
His contract is worth in excess of $5 million, according to those with knowledge of the deal, giving the quarterback specific financial damages for a possible legal challenge if the waiver is denied. Mars told Yahoo Sports earlier this week that Chambliss has already suffered financial “damages” because of the NCAA’s delay in its decision.
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Mars mostly stopped representing athletes in eligibility cases about three years ago, shifting his cases to more coaches and athletic administrators. However, he took exception to the merits of Chambliss’ case and is representing the quarterback pro bono.
Trinidad’s case for a sixth year of eligibility hinges on him proving to the NCAA that he was unable to play in 2022 because of the tonsil issue. Ole Miss filed a 91-page document, authored by Mars, to the association on Dec. 22. Mars drafted another document sent to the NCAA on Sunday reemphasizing that the organization has the sufficient evidence needed to grant the waiver based on the association’s own bylaw language.
As part of the 91-page filing, Mars included documents from Dr. Anthony Howard, an ear, nose and throat specialist who treated Trinidad for the condition in December 2022. Ultimately, Howard determined that the quarterback suffered from “enlarged tonsils” and other ailments that limited his ability to play in 2022.
