Should Undrafted Underclassmen Lose Their College Eligibility?

[erod]

Maybe I didn't read the post correctly. I thought the issue being discussed was if the player went undrafted, then he had the option to return to college. I don't see a problem with that but I do see a problem with your scenario and that obviously cannot be allowed to happen.

College should be about college. This cheapens it further.

If your education means nothing to you, then fine, go to the pros as a 6th round pick. Otherwise, those classes are a tremendous opportunity for these kids, and if they want to leave, then leave and don't come back.

 

[yimyammer]

College should be about college. This cheapens it further.

If your education means nothing to you, then fine, go to the pros as a 6th round pick. Otherwise, those classes are a tremendous opportunity for these kids, and if they want to leave, then leave and don't come back.

yeah, well that ship has sailed. There's too much money at stake and if a kid can go to the pros, collect millions, he can always go back & get a degree anytime.

Nice theory but not practical given the stakes at risk for a career ending injury to play an extra year that may amount to say $50,000 in value for the cost of the degree vs the potential millions lost by staying put.

Its purely cost-benefit imo and has nothing to do with not valuing an education, especially when you consider that the primary reason for getting a college degree is to enable a person to have a career. The amount an NFL player can make in one year may take a lifetime to earn in a normal career path and for a lot of these kids who came from nothing, I would think its obvious why they may choose to forgo a year or two of college to go pro.

 

[Nightman]

If you declare for the Draft, you're out

They usually sign with agent, most will get some advance money and most stop going to class altogether to train. Plus they give your scholarship to someone else.

 

[DallasEast]

College should be about college. This cheapens it further.

If your education means nothing to you, then fine, go to the pros as a 6th round pick. Otherwise, those classes are a tremendous opportunity for these kids, and if they want to leave, then leave and don't come back.

You are repeatedly phrasing comments that imply drafted players shouldn't have the opportunity to return to school. The thread has nothing to do with players opting to leave school early and were drafted. Even if they were not selected where they hoped, those players succeeded in accomplishing their goal.

I had wanted to start a discussion about players who were NOT drafted. The players, which the thread is about, did not have their dreams rewarded for leaving early by getting drafted. So, what exactly did those players betray by not getting drafted? Their schools? How is that possible? They. Were. Not. Drafted.

My hopes were for a conversation debating whether undrafted players could return to school, become better players, and re-enter the draft as more viable assets for NFL teams to select. In my opinion, a better selection of players could be created each year for mid- and lower rounds of the draft by not negating their ability to return to school.

 

[DallasEast]

If you declare for the Draft, you're out

They usually sign with agent, most will get some advance money and most stop going to class altogether to train. Plus they give your scholarship to someone else.

This is all true. However, these particular players declared for the draft but were not selected by NFL. Yes, they dropped out of school and made some cash outside of school but they didn't land an NFL contract.

Eventually, their previous scholarship transfers onto other players either already on the team, who had been playing without a scholarship, or new incoming players committed to play for the school. There is no rule that I am aware of which re-allocates a scholarship immediately after a player declares for the draft. The current eligibilty rules simply prevent a previously held scholarship from ever returning to the player that it was originally awarded.

Thus, one of my questions is why is it necessary that a scholarship be rewarded to someone else? Because it is tradition? Or that re-assigning the same scholarship back to its original owner somehow offends those who doesn't appreciate players chasing their dream of a professional football career but who didn't actually fulfill that dream? At the end of the day, that scholarship will fall into someone's hands. Does it really matter whether it is the player, who was already an proven asset for their school before leaving the draft and would return as a proven asset? Or must that scholarship be handed over to another player already on the team who wasn't as highly regarded or an unproven player who has just graduated from high school?

Me? I think the questions of who and when to award any scholarship should be answered by the head coach. That's what they have been doing all along. The only difference here is the possibility of a scholarship returning to someone who already earned it.

 

[Nightman]

This is all true. However, these particular players declared for the draft but were not selected by NFL. Yes, they dropped out of school and made some cash outside of school but they didn't land an NFL contract.

Eventually, their previous scholarship transfers onto other players either already on the team, who had been playing without a scholarship, or new incoming players committed to play for the school. There is no rule that I am aware of which re-allocates a scholarship immediately after a player declares for the draft. The current eligibilty rules simply prevent a previously held scholarship from ever returning to the player that it was originally awarded.

Thus, one of my questions is why is it necessary that a scholarship be rewarded to someone else? Because it is tradition? Or that re-assigning the same scholarship back to its original owner somehow offends those who doesn't appreciate players chasing their dream of a professional football career but who didn't actually fulfill that dream? At the end of the day, that scholarship will fall into someone's hands. Does it really matter whether it is the player, who was already an proven asset for their school before leaving the draft and would return as a proven asset? Or must that scholarship be handed over to another player already on the team who wasn't as highly regarded or an unproven player who has just graduated from high school?

Me? I think the questions of who and when to award any scholarship should be answered by the head coach. That's what they have been doing all along. The only difference here is the possibility of a scholarship returning to someone who already earned it.

The scholarship is a secondary issue but part of the main fact that teams have to move on....players have to declare sometime in January and the Draft isn't until April/May.....they have Spring practices that have been missed and jobs that have been won......it is a cold world but no one forced you to declare early...

 

[DallasEast]

The scholarship is a secondary issue but part of the main fact that teams have to move on....players have to declare sometime in January and the Draft isn't until April/May.....they have Spring practices that have been missed and jobs that have been won......it is a cold world but no one forced you to declare early...

I think it's safe to say that coaches place their highest grades on players who declare for the draft but aren't drafted--despite them missing spring practice or not fighting for jobs they lost solely because of the circumstances being discussed. It would not surprise me if many coaches would admit wanting those players to return if they had the opportunity because they were their best players who left school early.

No argument. It is a cold world but the eligibility issue is freezing these players out of their opportunity to return to school for less than essential reasons necessary to validate the rationale.

 

[Nightman]

I think it's safe to say that coaches place their highest grades on players who declare for the draft but aren't drafted--despite them missing spring practice or not fighting for jobs they lost solely because of the circumstances being discussed. It would not surprise me if many coaches would admit wanting those players to return if they had the opportunity because they were their best players who left school early.

No argument. It is a cold world but the eligibility issue is freezing these players out of their opportunity to return to school for less than essential reasons necessary to validate the rationale.

They used to call it a 'hardship waiver' to enter early......now anyone can go.....I really think coaches would discourage it a lot more if didn't look so self-serving......but after all the info is given and the decision to leave is made, it has to be binding.......otherwise every kid would just declare every year and wasted everyone's time....

 

[erod]

You are repeatedly phrasing comments that imply drafted players shouldn't have the opportunity to return to school. The thread has nothing to do with players opting to leave school early and were drafted. Even if they were not selected where they hoped, those players succeeded in accomplishing their goal.

I had wanted to start a discussion about players who were NOT drafted. The players, which the thread is about, did not have their dreams rewarded for leaving early by getting drafted. So, what exactly did those players betray by not getting drafted? Their schools? How is that possible? They. Were. Not. Drafted.

My hopes were for a conversation debating whether undrafted players could return to school, become better players, and re-enter the draft as more viable assets for NFL teams to select. In my opinion, a better selection of players could be created each year for mid- and lower rounds of the draft by not negating their ability to return to school.

I know what you're saying, but it's a slippery slope.

First, it'll be just the guys that aren't drafted. Then, it'll be the guys that didn't get drafted as projected. Then, it'll be guys that don't get drafted by a team of their choice. Then, it'll be guys that don't come to contract terms from the team that drafted them.

Once you start down that path, the rules will get looser and looser. There should be no limbo between college and pro. Once you go pro, you're a pro. Period.

 

[DallasEast]

They used to call it a 'hardship waiver' to enter early......now anyone can go.....I really think coaches would discourage it a lot more if didn't look so self-serving......but after all the info is given and the decision to leave is made, it has to be binding.......otherwise every kid would just declare every year and wasted everyone's time....

No question coaches would discourage any of their players to declare for the draft for that reason. A number of college rosters remain unstable year-to-year simply due to one or two players leaving early. Coaches love knowing what kind of team they can field.

Very few kids declare for the draft when looking at the overall number of them playing at the college level. The total number is very small. That number is influenced by the self-understanding that many college players either don't believe they can play at the next level or don't want to anyway. I may be wrong but I doubt that small number would explode simply because of a change in the eligibility rule. All kids dream but most kids aren't delusional.

My question would be whose time would be wasted? The coaches? Not really if they know which players are coming back who they didn't want to leave in the first place. The colleges? Nope. A scholarship is just another scholarship. The player? They had their dream squashed but took the chance. Bravery isn't wasted on effort. The NFL? There are a set number of rounds and draft slots. Whoever's drafted gets drafted and who doesn't make the cut doesn't. It's a good question though.

 

[DallasEast]

I know what you're saying, but it's a slippery slope.

First, it'll be just the guys that aren't drafted. Then, it'll be the guys that didn't get drafted as projected. Then, it'll be guys that don't get drafted by a team of their choice. Then, it'll be guys that don't come to contract terms from the team that drafted them.

Once you start down that path, the rules will get looser and looser. There should be no limbo between college and pro. Once you go pro, you're a pro. Period.

You're eroding that hill yourself. There is practically zero reason to think anyone would flex eligibility rules without restriction for players who accomplished what they sought by declaring for the draft. The draft has always been a crapshoot. That's nothing new. So it's somehow logical to assume eligibility rules will get warped uncontrollably and an exception would be created to apply for anyone not liking where they got drafted? I think you're overrationalizing people's gullibility.

Again. The entire question centers upon players who did not get drafted. Civilization as we know it does not need to implode while considering the ramifications of allowing kids who did not get drafted back into the schools they left. This... self-affront... towards young adults taking a chance on a professional career, not capitalizing on that opportunity, and not significantly impacting any person or institution within the scenario negatively is far from self-sustaining or self-empowering. It just appears personally adverse.

 

[jimmy40]

NCAA basket ball is pretty screwy but I do like how they handle the draft.

I'm fine with letting a player temporarily declare to explore their draftability, and then have a final back-out or go-forward date sometime before the draft.
They have to be older in football anyway.

But no, I don't like the idea of an open return policy. For starters, it would affect recruiting and scholarship limits. Not to mention the other uncertainties and chaos.

scholarship limits? Somewhere Nick Saban is laughing.

 

[jimmy40]

The scholarship is a secondary issue but part of the main fact that teams have to move on....players have to declare sometime in January and the Draft isn't until April/May.....they have Spring practices that have been missed and jobs that have been won......it is a cold world but no one forced you to declare early...

yeah, how are you going to let a guy come back when incoming freshman have already signed their letter of intent?

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

yeah, how are you going to let a guy come back when incoming freshman have already signed their letter of intent?

This is a big part of the problem. Understand that for a guy to come back, somebody has to be sent packing. If you want to remove those player limits then I'm all for it. Programs like Texas and Bama are again going to rule College Football and what you will really see are tons of really good players who never see the field. Because they are 10 deep at positions. That translates into even fewer players who may have otherwise gotten drafted, go undrafted. The NFL doesn't care because there are hard and fast roster limits that are not going anywhere in the NFL. You are always only going to have a certain amount of players, at any given time, in the NFL so really, while this question is about players who are undrafted going back to school, understand that if those players come back to reclaim ships, it's at a cost to the next guy.

Who would you rather try and help, the guy who has had a chance at an education for 2 or 3 years and decides to leave his education behind to chase a dream, even though he has been informed of his chances by the League or a 17/18/19 year old kid who has no prospects, no experience at all because somebody is getting left out when the music stops.