Big Ten Football Schools Announce Ban on Former NFL Players Returning to Compete
-
The Big Ten passed a new rule Tuesday preventing football players who have moved into professional football from returning to compete for one of its schools. Under the policy, players who declared for the NFL Draft and did not withdraw, appeared on an NFL roster or signed a professional contract would be prohibited from joining a Big Ten roster.
Compare 4 other versions
Bleacher ReportEarlier on Tuesday, the Big Ten instituted a similar rule. "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," the conference announced in a statement. "The conference continues to evaluate potential rules restricting professional athletes in other sports from conference competition."
Fox SportsLater on Tuesday, the Big Ten released a statement addressing the decision. "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.
CBS SportsPower conferences are moving closer to banning former NFL players from playing within their membership across 64 schools with the SEC following the Big Ten by proposing conference rules to keep professional athletes from returning to play college sports.
ESPNSources: Big Ten to bar NFL players from return The Big Ten is set to pass a rule Tuesday that doesn't allow players to return from the NFL and play for one of its schools, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel.
-
The flurry of discussions comes after the reports that Dae'Quan Wright of the Cleveland Browns and Zxavian Harris of the New Orleans Saints are leaving their respective NFL teams to play for LSU. Both Wright and Harris played for Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss.
Compare 2 other versions
Bleacher ReportESPN's Adam Schefter reported Sunday that tight end Dae'Quan Wright had agreed to join for LSU for the school's 2026 campaign after clearing waivers following his exit from the Cleveland Browns.
CBS SportsLSU has been at the center of the recent controversy after Lane Kiffin secured commitments from two former NFL players -- defensive tackle ZXavian Harris and former Cleveland Browns tight end Dae'Quan Harris.
-
More legal challenges on the way? With the conferences all considering a ban, and the Big Ten's move to adopt such a policy, it could open them up to additional legal action and may put the leagues themselves at the center of new lawsuits — instead of the NCAA.
Compare 1 other version
CBS SportsSuch violations will be dealt with swiftly and decisively. That will surely be the case with other conferences if they implement the same rule, as many in the college athletics space expect. Lawsuits could follow from players -- and potentially schools -- seeking to circumvent these rules, though it appears unlikely to have much impact, at least within the Big Ten, at this point, given the unanimous approval among the 18 schools.
-
On Monday, the SEC released a statement saying that it opposed NFL players returning to college football.
Compare 1 other version
Yahoo SportsOn Monday, SEC presidents met virtually to support opposition to professional players coming back to play in college.
-
The SEC released a statement Tuesday night urging Congress to pass the Protect College Sports Act in September to better protect itself from such developments, but the league, along with other power conferences, is moving toward individual conference-wide rules and enforcement.
-
The move also potentially signals the first step toward the long-gestating proposals within the Big Ten and SEC to shoulder enforcement policies under a new rules-and-enforcement model separate from the NCAA. The conferences have been preparing self-governance models in case legislation fails to become law later this year.
-
LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry has been supportive of Kiffin's plan, though it remains to be seen whether he will vote with his SEC colleagues this week to ban those players from participating in the SEC.
-
The NCAA approved a measure allowing players to play up to five seasons within a five-year span, but only for players in the class of 2023 or later. That decision led to former players from the class of 2022 who had exhausted their four years of eligibility to file lawsuits seeking temporary injunctions for a fifth season. Some were successful, leading many players to rejoin rosters across the country -- though LSU opted to seek players who instead landed on NFL rosters.
Compare 1 other version
Fox SportsThis comes in the wake of several players who appeared on NFL rosters this summer going back to school to play college football, with temporary restraining orders being granted to 16 players in Louisiana, allowing individuals who graduated from high school in 2022 to play a fifth collegiate season.
4 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
-
01 Yahoo Sports "The conference continues to evaluate potential rules restricting professional athletes in other sports from conference competition," the league said in a statement, in part.
-
02 Fox Sports "The conference continues to evaluate potential rules restricting professional athletes in other sports from conference competition."
-
03 Bleacher Report Notre Dame, an independent, is reportedly taking that stance as well. And the Big 12 is also reportedly leaning heavily in that direction:
-
04 CBS Sports Sources tell CBS Sports the punishment is modeled on the NCAA's ghost transfer rule. That rule bans coaches from 50% of games and carries a financial penalty on the school equal to 20% of its football budget.
Fact Corroboration
Which sources independently confirm the same facts. Hover a claim to see its sources, or a source to see what it corroborates.
Coverage by Region
Source Similarity
Connections show how similarly each outlet covered this story. Thicker lines = more similar framing.
Sources (5)
- foxsports
- cbssports
- espn
- bleacherreport
- yahoosports