As the NCAA continues to lose rulings challenging the implementation of its new eligibility rules, a new consequence has emerged: Some football players who have participated in NFL training camps—and in some cases, even NFL preseason games—can now return to college.
On Wednesday night, a local judge in Louisiana granted a temporary restraining order allowing 16 former college football players a fifth year of eligibility. A number of these players have participated in NFL training camps and/or appeared in NFL preseason games.
Among the group are three former Ole Miss players: Zxavian Harris participated in NFL training camps, while Dae’Quan Wright and Wydett Williams were listed on the Cleveland Browns and Arizona Cardinals rosters, respectively. Others include former Oregon State running back Anthony Hankerson, who was listed on the Seattle Seahawks roster, and former LSU linebacker Jack Pyburn, who was listed on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers roster.
The lawsuit itself wasn’t specifically about the players’ professional participation. Instead, the case was one of many filed challenging the implementation of the NCAA’s “age-based” eligibility policy.
The policy, passed in June, stated players would have five years to complete five seasons of eligibility (up from four) starting on their 19th birthday or when they entered college—whichever came first.
But the NCAA declined to grandfather in players who started college in 2022 and completed four years of eligibility, and would have gotten a fifth year under the new policy. Players in this situation have sued state and federal courts across the country (and have been successful). The 16 football players in the Louisiana case were part of that 2022 freshman class.
Plaintiff attorney Ryan Downton tells FOS that these athletes’ professional experience during NFL training camps shouldn’t keep them from returning to school because they were just following the rules in place at the time. “They should get five years too,” he said. “If the NCAA had just given them five years when we asked in a lawsuit last fall, then none of them would have signed professional contracts or been forced to file suit today.”
The NCAA does not allow football players to return to college if they get drafted or sign a professional contract. That appeared to be the case for Texas offensive lineman Cole Hutson, for example. Hutson, who returned to the Longhorns after he filed a separate successful eligibility lawsuit, had gone undrafted and participated in NFL training camp but didn’t sign compensation contracts. But some of the players in the Louisiana case not only participated in training camps, but also signed and played in the NFL preseason.
Under the temporary restraining order, that isn’t a problem.
In the order, the judge said the NCAA was not allowed to prohibit players from college football because they had “signed a professional contract, or agent contract, or played in a professional sporting event.” As long as the players terminated those contracts before playing in college games—and returned any earnings from those contracts—they were allowed to.
The ruling also prohibited the NCAA from implementing transfer restrictions on these players, giving them one week to legally enter the transfer portal in case their previous programs no longer wanted them or had roster spots open.
Because the case is in state court and asked only for a restraining order for the plaintiffs, it won’t automatically allow another year to all players in similar situations. But it could signal that similar lawsuits could succeed.
It’s already attracted the attention of not just college sports industry executives, but also federal lawmakers. Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), who is trying to pass his Protect College Sports Act, posted on X that “this is exactly why Congress must act.”
In a statement Wednesday night, NCAA SVP of external affairs Tim Buckley said: “Courts across the country granting relief to ineligible athletes who already had every opportunity to compete in college — sometimes without even having a hearing — are failing to appreciate the destabilizing effect their rulings are having on college sports. The lawyers bringing these cases seemingly won’t be satisfied until every professional athlete can treat college sports as a fallback option, regardless of the opportunities it strips from those who will never have a chance to begin their collegiate sports experience.”
The X account for the Texas Trial Group, Downton’s firm, fired back: “Hey Timmy… We are in-fact those lawyers and this isn’t how we feel at all.”
A spokesperson for the NFL did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the NFL Players Association declined to comment.
