NCAA -- yes, NCAA -- comes through for grieving Davidson

Try that combo in your worst nightmare. See if you wake up OK.

"He's worrying about his brother, he's dealing with the death of his girlfriend and then in the back of his mind he's thinking there's an outside chance he might not be eligible," Gottfried said. "The whole thing was a mess."

Enter Jon Dever, director of academic services for intercollegiate athletics at Alabama. He gets paid to aid student-athletes, and he earned his paycheck last week when he approached Gottfried shortly after a memorial was held on campus for Davidson's girlfriend, Crimson Tide athletic training student Brandy Nicole Murphy.

Dever, who has been at Alabama since 1992, made Gottfried aware of an NCAA and SEC rule that allows players to withdraw from classes, essentially wipe the slate clean and start fresh in rare, tragic circumstances. He explained the criteria, explained how Davidson clearly fit it, then asked Gottfried if he thought it was a worthy option.

"It was one of those, 'If you guys want to take advantage of it, it's here for you to do,'" Gottfried said. "So we sat down with Jermareo, and we all felt like it was the best thing to help him. When we brought it to him, he was relieved."

Relieved. By an NCAA rule.

Boy, is that a rarity.

And really, that's the point of this column.

Beyond the tragic story that is Davidson's experiences, the unbelievable thing here is that the NCAA provided a safety net thanks to a rule in place that addresses human issues with a humanistic approach. For an organization that so often gets it wrong, it's refreshing that in this case the governing body absolutely got it right, and that Davidson will again be eligible when the ninth-ranked Crimson Tide plays Southern Miss on Saturday.

Granted, none of it will erase Davidson's hurt, fill the gaps in his life, the hole in his heart. But what it will do -- what it's already doing -- is make things marginally easier and lift at least one burden from an overburdened mind.

Imagine this rule not being in place, what Davidson would be doing right now. He'd be cramming for finals only weeks removed from losing his girlfriend and with his brother still hospitalized, still too unstable to have a bullet removed from his neck. Clearly, studying would prove difficult, and if not for those reasons then because of something as simple as a few of Davidson's books remain in Atlanta, in that wrecked car that's totaled and sitting in a junk yard. It never occurred to him to grab them, you see, not with everything else going on.

"The thing that gets lost a little bit in all this is that prior to two or three weeks ago Jermareo was in great shape to pass every class and graduate in May," Gottfried said. "But he's had a lot on his plate, and it's been hard. But this rule is in place for situations exactly like this, and I think it's a great rule."

Not just great, but compassionate and fair. So for a day, at least, the NCAA gets a pass.