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Louisiana court order gives players signed by NFL teams a shot at returning to college sports
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- Louisiana court order gives players signed by NFL teams a shot at returning to college sports
Several athletes, including some who signed contracts with NFL teams, were granted a temporary restraining order by a Louisiana court that would make them eligible to return to college athletics, ESPN reported Wednesday.
Former Oregon State running back Anthony Hankerson ( Seattle Seahawks ), former Florida and LSU pass rusher Jack Pyburn ( Tampa Bay Buccaneers ) and ex-Mississippi starters Dae'Quan Wright ( Cleveland Browns ) and Wydett Williams ( Arizona Cardinals ) are on NFL rosters and were part of the lawsuit.
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NFL teams are deep into training camp, and rosters have to be cut to 53 players by Aug. 30. Many who don't make those clubs could look for a fallback plan in college football, barring a successful appeal by the NCAA.
According to ESPN, 16 football players were part of the lawsuit that included 33 athletes across several sports who are seeking a fifth year of eligibility.
The NCAA has been dealt a series of legal setbacks regarding its eligibility rules.
"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," Tim Buckley, NCAA senior vice president of external affairs, said in a statement.
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"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."
On July 31, a federal court in Denver ruled that all high school class of 2022 athletes who exhausted their fourth season of college eligibility this spring are eligible for a fifth season this academic year.
That decision came a little more than a month after the NCAA passed a rule that gives athletes five years to complete five seasons of competition, starting with those who enroll in the fall of 2027. The Colorado ruling eliminated the waiting period.
