Senator Bill Cassidy’s comment on the Penn State quarterback, Rocco Becht, has received a lot of criticism. While media outlets are also not happy, an angry father and former NFL QB, Anthony Becht, gave a crisp reply back as he stood up for his son.
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“Senator, with all due respect, keep your mouth shut and stay in your lane,” Anthony Becht commented on X on August 22 in response to Cassidy’s tweet. “You have zero clue about this situation.”
It all goes back to Rocco Becht’s recent comments about his classes. During a Penn State football media availability on Thursday, August 20, a reporter asked Becht about his upcoming academic schedule as classes were set to begin. He mentioned that as a fifth-year graduate student, he would only be taking one online class during the fall 2026 football season.
“Yeah, I’m in one class. I guess it’s the perks of being graduated and being a fifth-year.” When asked what the class was, he added, “I don’t know yet; we haven’t picked it yet. We’ve got to do that here coming up this weekend.”
The video clip quickly went viral. Some people argued it made a mockery of the “student” in student-athlete. National college football media outlets, including The Athletic, quickly stepped in.
They explained Becht’s course load is completely legal under NCAA regulations. The QB spent four years at Iowa State University, where he successfully completed his undergraduate degree in communications. He is using his final year of football eligibility at Penn State as a graduate transfer.
Things escalated when Senator Bill Cassidy shared a video to justify an amendment to his Protect College Sports Act. Cassidy claimed that taking a single online class meant Rocco was “far from being a full-time student.” He even argued that the academic side of being a student-athlete “should still matter.”
Anthony Becht, who had an 11-year NFL career and current coaching tenure in the UFL, didn’t hold back. His blunt post directly targeted Cassidy’s lack of knowledge regarding Rocco’s actual academic timeline.
In his post, Cassidy didn’t clarify the exact PCSA rule that would help prevent a Becht-like situation in future. Last year, Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza also came to the Hoosiers after having competing his degree at Cal.
NCAA guidelines specifically allow graduate transfers who have already earned their degrees to take a minimum credit load or final program prerequisites to stay compliant. Their academic requirements shift entirely to the graduate level.
If a student-athlete needs fewer than the standard 9 graduate credits to complete their specific degree or certificate program in that given semester, the NCAA permits them to enroll in just those remaining credits. Becht is enrolled in a graduate certificate program for organizational development and change.