Right in the middle of the preseason, we are getting news that is making a lot of people upset, and I agree with them to be honest.
If you have not heard by now, Dae’Quan Wright, an undrafted tight end out of Mississippi who had tryouts with the Eagles and Browns over the summer, now has a deal in place to play this season at LSU.
Wright is among a number of college athletes who have sued for the right to return to college to play as the start of both the college football and NFL seasons approach.
Wright is believed to be the first player who could play for an NFL team, and then
How Is That Possible?
The official possible way to explain this is complicated, but see if you catch what is going on.
The courts have decided that Wright and others should benefit from the retroactive application of the NCAA’s willingness to grant five years of eligibility.
Wright dressed for the Browns’ preseason game against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday but did not play, yet he is about to return to play college football. How is that even possible?
He is available on the NCAA transfer portal thanks to a temporary restraining order granted by a judge in Louisiana who gave him an opportunity to return to college for a fifth year of eligibility.
Per ESPN, because Wright started his college career in 2022 and played four college seasons before going pro.
The NCAA changed its eligibility rules in June to allow athletes to play five seasons within a five-year timespan, but this reform did not grandfather in outgoing athletes like Wright from the 2022 class. Now the NCAA is facing a slew of lawsuits from athletes who were denied a chance to come back for their fifth year.
I am not the only one that thinks this is way too loose. The way the NBA does it is a potential draftee can play in the COLLEGE only NBA showcase, and then they have to make a decision if they are going to keep their name in the draft or go back to college.
Once that window ends, you can’t go back to college.
Wright was in full uniform in a training camp game in which we have seen starters for all these teams play in. I don’t agree that he should be able to go back to college.
I thought this was worth a quick post for this week because it is about to happen when he clears waivers, he has a deal in place to return to LSU and play for them.
Wright was the fourth-leading receiver among all FBS tight ends last season at Ole Miss, with 39 receptions for 635 yards and five touchdowns.
I understand that you can’t play the player, but rather the system, a temporary restraining order should only allow college guys to play if they don’t have any type of NFL action, which in the case of Wright, he was suited up in the preseason.
@colincowherd on Dae’Quan Wright RETURNING to college football after being waived by the Browns
Not that this is any news of the Cowboys, but it is all over the place right now and you may have seen it already, so you just wanted to drop this and get some thoughts about it.
Anyway, I just thought this was interesting, and it is all over my Twitter. It is a fun change of pace, and we will see how he does this season at LSU, but hopefully they will get something in place for this, because college, with the NIL and everything else including this, is becoming a joke.
The big ten has already come out with something for their own conference. Just this morning, the Big Ten is set to pass a rule that will not allow players to return to college football from the NFL.
That is probably going to be the move to fix it.
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