Texas A&M runner can't use athletics to promote company via YouTube, NCAA says

— -- Ryan Trahan, a budding YouTube entrepreneur and Texas A&M cross country athlete, has been told by the NCAA he can have his cake but can't eat it, too.

Trahan, a 17-year-old freshman, is seeking a ruling that will allow him to stay eligible while continuing to promote his ecologically friendly bottle company via a YouTube account that has grown to?more than 14,000 subscribers.

"These are the two biggest things in my life," Trahan told The Dallas Morning News. "They're asking me to throw one out the window, essentially."

Trahan and the A&M athletic department are working with the NCAA to come up with a solution.

Trahan said he has been told to omit references to either his company, Neptune Bottle, or his collegiate athletic pursuits.

"I don't understand how I'm allowed to have a job at McDonald's or something while being a student-athlete," Trahan said in a recent video post. "But I can't have a company that I'm passionate about, that I've been working on for over a year now and keep my identity. Like, how is that right in any way?"

Trahan's status for this weekend's home meet is in question, according to the Morning News report, which cited a team spokesperson. Trahan ran unaffiliated in the Aggies' first cross country meet this season but competed with the team in its second meet at Georgia.?

Trahan's plight isn't entirely unique.?

Central Florida kicker Donald De La Haye was granted a waiver request but turned it down after the NCAA ruled him ineligible over advertising revenue generated from a YouTube channel.

"The waiver, which was granted, stated De La Haye could maintain his eligibility and continue to monetize videos that did not reference his status as a student-athlete or depict his football skill or ability," Central Florida said in a statement, according to the Orlando Sentinel.?