Drew Ott at the NFL Combine

Hey, look on the bright side, Drew Ott could go to the NFL Combine twice!!!

OK, maybe that's not so bright, but that is one angle from the senior-or-whatever Iowa defensive end's appearance last weekend at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Ind. Here's the double-back post from NFL.com, which is full of good info.

— From the post: The NCAA only approved Ott's participation about a week ago, he said, and because his NCAA eligibility remains pending, he's not allowed to sign with an agent.

So, maybe this says Ott's medical hardship waiver application has moved beyond the Big Ten level and into the appeals process with the NCAA.

This started in late November, early December. If this seems like an exceedingly long time, well, it is.

There's some discrepancy here and we'll get to that.

— '(The appeal has) taken a lot longer to rule on than I thought initially ... Hopefully here in two weeks I should hear back. It's a different (time frame) for every case. I don't think it would be too hard to go back (to Iowa). I've still been doing the same things, training at Iowa and stuff like that, so it's not like I've ever really left.'

Ott has kept a healthy outlook, at least when sitting at a table of cameras and notebooks at a place that where he's being judged by how well he does in front of cameras and notebooks.

I trailed Ott once during the team picture day at the Rose Bowl. I asked something, probably ham-handedly, about returning next season. He grumbled and said ask the NCAA about it. This was late December. It's March now.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer also caught that interview session with Ott and posted video.

— From the post, The Big Ten has yet to rule, and even if the conference rejects his application, Ott could appeal to the NCAA. But the NFL Draft is at the end of April. There's a clock on this.

OK, so maybe it hasn't cleared Big Ten level. Either way, could an appeal even be heard in time? Given the speed of the process thus far, what do you think? No, the answer is no. Absolutely no.

— Also from the post: How complicated can this decision be?

'Apparently they've got to investigate some stuff,' Ott said. 'I think I filled out all the right paperwork.'

So Ott is here, on his own. Unlike all the other players, he doesn't have an agent, someone to advocate for him and lead him through the logistics of combine life. That's not allowed.

I've love to rip the Big Ten and NCAA for a lack of transparency here, but HIPAA probably keeps this info from release. We are, after all, talking about specific injuries and that, by law, is a no-no. I do, however, question the lack of info that's gone the family's way. The student-athlete should have a physical say in this. It shouldn't just be documents, and if you want it to simply be documents and an equation for X amount of games played and it's too late, then this should've been decided months ago.

It also would be nice to know if this process ends up in a vote. If there are specific schools voting against the return of a student-athlete because that school faces the student-athlete's school the next fall, doesn't that seem . . . wildly against the best interest of the student-athlete?

But wait, we don't know if that is the case specifically. Let's not get all paranoid about this (I'm talking to myself right now as much as anyone). So, you get my point about transparency. How was this decision made? Take the medical out of it, what are the mechanics of the process? Maybe we don't want to know, but we should know. Right?

If it's a simple equation, the answer should've been 'no' and it should've come months ago. Months.

Ott said at the Combine he hopes it's decided in the next couple of weeks. That's not asking much.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com