NFL-Rostered Players Granted Restraining Order to Return to College
A Louisiana federal court order gives athletes who signed NFL contracts a path back to a fifth college season if their NFL teams release them by Sept. 1, part of a broader eligibility lawsuit against the NCAA.
A Louisiana federal court granted a temporary restraining order allowing athletes who signed NFL contracts to pursue a return to college football for a fifth season, provided their NFL teams release them by Sept. 1.
What's the legal basis?
The order ties to a broader lawsuit in which 33 athletes across multiple sports, including 16 football players, sued the NCAA for a fifth year of eligibility. It follows a separate July 31 federal ruling in Denver that found high-school class-of-2022 athletes who exhausted four seasons of college eligibility this spring qualify for a fifth season. The NCAA has called the rulings destabilizing to college sports and has not conceded the underlying eligibility issue.
Which current NFL-rostered players are involved?
Players named in reporting include running back Anthony Hankerson (Seattle Seahawks, formerly Oregon State), defensive end Jack Pyburn (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, formerly Florida and LSU), Dae'Quan Wright (Cleveland Browns, formerly Ole Miss) and Wydett Williams (Arizona Cardinals, formerly Ole Miss). Some background details on these players vary slightly across outlets and should be treated as preliminary.
What happens next?
This is a temporary restraining order, not a final ruling, so the situation remains legally unresolved and could change quickly. In practice, it functions as a fallback path: any of these players who don't make their team's 53-man roster at the Aug. 30 cutdown could be released in time to return to a college program for a fifth season.
Players in this story
Sources
- ESPN: Athletes signed with NFL teams granted temporary restraining order to return to college