STATESVILLE, N.C. — A college football player from Statesville is facing some of the toughest decisions of his life and it has nothing to do with football.
Brock Hoffman is committed to helping his family through a bad situation. However, now the Hoffman family is saying the NCAA is making it impossible for him to help his parents and play the sport he loves.
"Devastating," said Stephanie Hoffman. "Its just been an up and down rollercoaster."
Brock Hoffman is tough, but by far the biggest battles he's facing comes off the field. In 2017 his mother Stephanie Hoffman underwent surgery to have a brain tumor removed.
"They told me I had an acoustic neuroma," said Stephanie.
Thankfully the surgeons were successful. At that point, Brock was playing at Coastal Carolina and coming home as much as he could, but it wasn't enough.
Brock made the bold decision to transfer to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He filed a "Family Medical Hardship Waiver" with the NCAA in February so he'd be eligible to play the 2019 season.
He was denied. After that, he appealed twice and the outcome was the same. The latest appeal was last week.
"Its been a whirlwind," said Brian Hoffman. "Its been up and down."
Part of the criteria under the "Family Medical Hardship Waiver" is that the student athlete's family must be within a 100 mile radius of the school. Hoffman's Statesville home is 105 miles away.
"This is about him being closer to home, being closer to us, being closer to his mother," said Brian.