A rule drafted in a matter of days
Can a player cut by an NFL team go back to being a student-athlete? The Big Ten has an answer, and it took about a week to write.
ESPN reports the conference will approve a rule Tuesday shutting out anyone with NFL roster history from NCAA competition. The language is wide. It captures any player whose name has appeared on a pro roster sheet, anyone who has signed a pro contract, and anyone who declared for the draft and let the withdrawal deadline pass.
The SEC is circling the same position. Its presidents and chancellors put out a statement Monday.
“College athletes, not former professional athletes, have always been at the heart of the Southeastern Conference,” they wrote. “Those who choose to leave college sports, sign professional contracts and play at the pro level should not be allowed to come back to college competition.”
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Sixteen players, one judge, and Lane Kiffin
There is a reason for the speed. His name is Lane Kiffin.
The LSU coach is working a court ruling that hands an extra year of eligibility to 16 players. A Louisiana judge issued an emergency order last week clearing them into the transfer portal.
Tight end Dae’Quan Wright, who played for Kiffin at Ole Miss the past two seasons, is set to land at LSU once he clears NFL waivers. He is coming back from Cleveland. Defensive lineman Zxavian Harris, cut loose by the Saints, posted the same news on Instagram. Two words: “business decision”.
“They play for you or they play for somebody else”
Kiffin did not dress it up Monday. “At the end of the day, because of these court rulings, either they play for you or they play for somebody else somewhere else in the country.”
The root of the mess is the NCAA’s age-based eligibility model, five seasons inside a five-year window. It left out players from the 2022 high school class who had already burned through their allotment. The lawsuits followed.
The Big Ten is not waiting to see how the next hearing goes.
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