Last week, a Louisiana state judge granted a temporary restraining order allowing a group of players who participated in NFL training camp and preseason to return to college. As a result, conferences are working to prevent that scenario from becoming a reality.
On Tuesday, the Big Ten became the first conference to vote to implement a rule banning NFL players from returning to college, the conference confirmed in a statement.
The votes were unanimous.
The rule will “prohibit football players who have signed a professional contract, were on a professional roster at any point, or declared for the NFL Draft as an underclassman without withdrawing, from maintaining eligibility for athletic competition at a conference institution,” the Big Ten said.
The SEC was also meeting on Tuesday, and is expected to discuss eligibility rules, Front Office Sports confirmed. The ACC and Big 12 are reportedly having similar conversations, though it is unclear how formal they are or what exact rule changes they are considering.
In addition, the American is considering a similar conference-wide ban on NFL players, a source confirmed to FOS.
“Individuals who choose to leave college athletics, sign professional playing contracts, and compete professionally should not then be permitted to return to college competition, the SEC said in a statement Monday night. “Allowing that to occur will blur the line between college and professional sports, create significant competitive equity concerns, and reduce opportunities for high school and current college athletes.”
The original Louisiana lawsuit itself didn’t challenge the NCAA’s ban on professional athletes returning to college. Instead, it was one of many that have been filed to challenge the implementation of the NCAA’s new “age based” eligibility policy, which would give players five years to complete five seasons (up from four) starting when they enter college or on their 19th birthday, whichever comes first. The NCAA declined to grandfather in players who joined college in 2022 and have already completed four years of eligibility—so players from that group have decided to sue in both state and federal court.
The Louisiana lawsuit challenged that implementation policy, and argued additionally that players never would have participated in NFL activities if they knew they would have a fifth year of eligibility. The judge ruled in their favor, granting the TRO that will extend until a hearing on Aug. 31, but said these players would have to terminate their NFL contracts and pay back any NFL money they made to return to college.
Most notably, Cleveland Browns tight end Dae’Quan Wright has secured a deal to play for LSU this fall after being waived this weekend. Wright will be the first player to go from participating in preseason games to college. His old teammate at Ole Miss, Zxavian Harris, also a plaintiff in the lawsuit, was signed by the New Orleans Saints this summer but was injured and never participated in preseason games; he was waived on Aug. 8. He’s now signed with LSU as well. (As part of a separate lawsuit, Texas’s Cole Hutson was able to secure a return to the Longhorns despite participating in NFL training camps, but not being signed with a team.)
At this point, only players involved in this lawsuit (or who file their own separate state lawsuit) are eligible to go from NFL preseason back to college. And while other players are considering filing cases of their own, the situation is broadly considered to be a one-off given that it’s specifically about the freshman class of 2022, as FOS previously reported.
The conferences are likely also considering taking a stand given the similarly blurry lines in men’s basketball. Former St. John’s standout RJ Luis Jr. won an injunction Monday night to return to LSU, despite signing NBA contracts.
The Big Ten’s new rule aims to prevent any player who had an NFL contract or who willingly participated in the NFL draft process. But there are a few caveats.
First, the rule’s NFL Draft language only prohibits players who declared for the draft before exhausting all years of eligibility. Players who completed four years and whose names were entered into the draft through the automatic entry process—and not drafted—are still eligible. Players in this scenario who then participated only in rookie mini-camp tryouts, held in the first two weekends after the NFL Draft, but didn’t ultimately sign with a team, are also still eligible.
The Big Ten also said it was considering implementing similar rules for other sports.
The road will likely be bumpy, however. Players may end up suing conferences in addition to the NCAA in future lawsuits to prevent them from enforcing these types of bans as well.
