“Free Gurley” also has become a local brand. Amid growing disenchantment nationwide with the NCAA’s policy prohibiting college athletes from being compensated beyond scholarships, the “Free Gurley” campaign took off – with plenty of people making money from the controversy. That Gurley himself can’t be paid for shirts calling for his freedom is an irony that further fueled the fight.

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But first, the campus went into shock. And that’s not overstating it.

After Gurley was suspended Oct. 9, students held a candlelight vigil for him outside Sanford Stadium. They erected a shrine that featured a Georgia Bulldogs flag and signs reading “Free Gurl3y.” (His jersey number is 3.) Georgia was 4-1 at the time and rising in the national polls. The students took to social media to voice their outrage and sadness, all under the banner “#FreeGurley.” Runners at a recent Athens half-marathon were greeted by a man holding a sign that read, “I’d rather be watching Gurley run.”

“It’s created quite the buzz here,” said David Shipley, a Georgia law professor who serves as the school’s faculty athletics representative, meaning he works with the athletics department to ensure academic guidelines are followed.

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His students ask him about the Gurley case. He gets stopped by curious fans at church after Sunday school.

“I can’t remember anything quite like this,” Shipley said. “He’s like the second coming of Hershel Walker.”

Oh, that guy. Walker is still royalty on this campus of 35,000, even though most students weren’t even born when Walker had his heyday running for Georgia in the early 1980s. Walker finished in the top three in Heisman trophy voting three years in a row, winning the title in 1982. His Georgia team won the 1981 Sugar Bowl.

This year, Gurley was in the middle of a Walker-like season. He averaged 8.33 yards a carry and scored nine touchdowns in his first five games.

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Then he got into trouble.

“It’s totally crazy. It was a shock to everyone,” said Ashley Yost, 22, a student who works at the Onward Reserve store near campus, which sells Bulldogs gear and has its own “Free Gurley” sign.

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Into the store walked Max Braun, a 22-year-old student in a gray “Free 3” T-shirt. His friend had printed them. Braun said the shirts were selling well. He noted how odd it was that his friend could make money off the Gurley T-shirts, but NCAA rules prohibit Gurley from doing the same. (Gurley has been spotted wearing a version of this T-shirt, however.)

“Most people, they disagree with the NCAA,” said Spencer, the bartender. Gurley “is making so much money for the school he should be able to profit somewhat and be able to play football.”

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Current rules prohibit Gurley or other college athletes from taking money for signing autographs or selling sports-related items. But that system is under fire. This summer, a federal judge ruled that the NCAA violates antitrust laws by preventing football and men’s basketball players from being paid for the use of their names, images and likenesses. The case is ongoing, the repercussions still being sorted out. But the days of pure collegiate amateurism might be nearing an end.

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For Gurley, his freedom might be coming soon.

Last week, Georgia asked the NCAA to reinstate Gurley. The school completed its investigation and found Gurley paid the appropriate penalty.

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“So now it’s just sit and wait,” Georgia Associate Athletic Director Claude Felton said.

The hope in Athens is that Gurley will be available to play against rival Florida this Saturday. It’s the annual Cocktail Party game.

Fans are expecting Gurley to be there.

“I’m so excited he’ll be back for the Florida game,” said Katie Force, 21, a student and server at Hershel’s 34 Chicken & Ribs Kitchen, just off campus, where the walls are filled with photos of Georgia’s last great running back.