Big Ten Bans NFL Players from Returning to College Football

The Big Ten has announced, as of Tuesday, that its member schools will not be permitted to accept players returning from the NFL. This new rule stipulates that athletes who either did not withdraw from the NFL draft post-declaration, have been on an NFL roster, or have signed a contract are ineligible to play for any Big Ten institution. Sources confirmed to ESPN that this decision received unanimous backing from the Big Ten athletic directors. They also noted that teams found in breach of this ruling could face their head coach being sidelined for 50 percent of remaining games, along with a fine that hasn’t been specified.

The conference made this ruling official in an announcement released on the same day.

According to the league, “The Big Ten Conference announced Tuesday the unanimous adoption of a conference rule to 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.”

They also mentioned, “The conference continues to evaluate potential rules restricting professional athletes in other sports from conference competition.”

The decision comes on the heels of two NFL players transferring to LSU.

ESPN reported, “The Big Ten’s ruling comes in the wake of two NFL players — Cleveland’s Dae’Quan Wright and New Orleans’ Zxavian Harris — parting with their respective teams to join Lane Kiffin’s roster at LSU.”

Wright and Harris, who previously played for Kiffin at Ole Miss, are returning to college football due to a court order that unexpectedly grants athletes a fifth year of eligibility. To regain their college status, these players must terminate their professional contracts and pay back any earnings received from their time in the NFL.

The NCAA has expressed concerns that such rulings are causing a “destabilizing effect” on college sports, urging Congress to pass the “Protect College Sports Act” to ensure fair rules for all student-athletes.

According to the NCAA, “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.”

They added, “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 both those who will never have a chance to begin their collegiate sports experience and those who are currently on campus working out with the team and attending classes.”