The Big Ten doesn’t want released NFL rookies.
In the I’ll see you in court vein, college sports’ Big Ten Conference has decided that anyone just out of school in the spring who signed a National Football League contract, went to a training camp and wants to return to school having a year of eligibility left will not be doing that in their schools. The conference 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 is deliberately spitting in the face of a Louisiana judge who said players can go from an NFL training camp back to college football. The Big Ten is not the only conference that is annoyed.
The SEC released a statement showing its disdain. “College athletes, not former professional athletes, have been at the heart of the Southeastern Conference. Individuals who choose to leave college athletics, sign professional playing contracts, and compete professionally should not then be permitted to return to college competition.” But there is that court ruling. The bottom line is simple. Members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association have lost control of the players. It is no longer 1955 and the term “student-athlete” no longer applies. The term “student-athlete” was a dodge to get out of paying athletes’ benefits. The people who ran big time college sports sold the narrative that the athletes just wanted to play and it was fine that colleges made money off their backs because the colleges offered scholarships as a reward for playing. Although some players did get money under the table. Today players have agents and lawyers and are demanding rights and NCAA member schools cannot deal with 2026 realities.
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