Regarding the controversy of professional athletes returning to school to play another year of college ball: Forget the legality of the situation, and consider the reality of it.
Both of the men who hoped to play for LSU chose to leave school before graduating and earning a degree. They assumed that they would be picked up by an NFL team, which would provide them a more lucrative payday than the “I’d say about seven figures” of NIL money, as Zxavian Harris was quoted as saying he was paid during his college career.
Essentially, he is just an unemployed guy looking to get his old job back. Ironically, if they had both graduated with a degree, they would have had another option if the NFL did not work out.
In the real world, of which they are now a part, if you leave a job without securing other employment, the chances of getting your old job back are slim to none, and that is true in the NFL as well.
Taking these athletes back would have only denied an opportunity for younger players to take advantage of the on-the-job training that colleges provide to them, in preparation for the NFL, free of charge. Not to mention the chance to earn their own seven figures while getting an “education.”
Allowing former NFL players back would have essentially provided them with NIL income, free use of practice facilities, free coaching and fitness training — only to see them leave after one year. The only benefit to the school is their actual playing time, provided it is any good and they don’t get injured in the process.
Is that really worth fighting a legal battle over? And that, folks, is reality vs. legality. Sometimes it is just not worth the fight.
SAL RAGUSA
Jefferson