Donald De La Haye, also known online as Deestroying, is a Costa Rican-American YouTuber and former kicker in college football. He played college football at the University of Central Florida. De La Haye is known for his videos demonstrating his kicking ability as well as his sports-related skits and vlogs talking about his life journey. He also made news while in college when the NCAA banned him for profiting off his name, which has sparked reform for student athlete compensation.
In 2017, De La Haye drew notable attention when the NCAA told him to delete or demonetize his YouTube Channel in order to stay on the football team, as the NCAA forbids its athletes from profiting off their athletic ability aside from their scholarships. He was also not allowed to have his likeness or name in any of his videos if he decided to continue the channel. Faced with this dilemma, De La Haye ultimately chose to continue his channel normally, at the cost of his scholarship and NCAA eligibility. De La Haye sued UCF over this matter in July 2018, settling in November 2018 to finish his education there. De La Haye's case has been one of several incidents in which NCAA athletes are barred from profiting off their names, images, and likenesses. Legislation has since been issued in a few states, including California and De La Haye's home state of Florida, in an attempt to allow student athletes to profit while in school.
YouTube career
While kicked off the UCF football team, De La Haye put more focus on his Deestroying channel, which he started as a teenager in 2015. Evolving from skits on football stereotypes and kicker trick shot videos, the channel has also featured gaming videos, skits impersonating National Football League players such as Odell Beckham Jr., Tom Brady and JuJu Smith-Schuster, actual collaborations with players such as Smith-Schuster, Marquette King, Cam Newton, Antonio Brown, and Tyreek Hill and partnerships with the NFL and other sports organizations to create content. The channel has since surpassed 2 million subscribers after having just 94,000 when De La Haye left UCF. De La Haye has also collaborated with other YouTube personalities such as Logan Paul, competing in the latter's "Challenger Games" in July 2019.
After years of advocating for an NFL team to sign him through his videos, De La Haye was signed by the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League on May 19, 2019. The signing resulted in over 15,000 new followers on the Argonauts' official Instagram account. He appeared in both preseason games, making his one field goal attempt from a distance of 16 yards, and recording one punt for 46 yards. De La Haye was signed to the practice roster to begin the season. Due to limits on American players allowed on the roster, the Argonauts later placed De La Haye on the Suspended list in order to allow him to be free of team obligations and continue to upload videos consistently, which generates more income than being on the practice squad.
