Players leaving for the pros and then finding a way back to college. As strange as it sounds, that’s what’s going on now. Marcus Spears has never been one to dance around a point. So while talking to Pat McAfee, the former LSU star went straight at that strange problem college sports has created.
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“Once you declare to go be a pro, you’re done with college,” Marcus Spears said on The Pat McAfee Show. “That’s how I feel about it.”
That blunt view comes as college football gets tangled in a strange eligibility fight. The legal fight began with the NCAA’s new age-based eligibility system. Players from the 2022 recruiting class were left without another season after finishing their previous eligibility in 2025-26.
That sent some of the 2022 batch players to court seeking another season. By Aug. 21, more than 150 players had filed 18 lawsuits in 15 states, according to Yahoo Sports. Some won temporary injunctions. And suddenly, players who had already been in NFL camps were looking back toward college.
Marcus Spears isn’t just talking about former pros getting another shot. His bigger concern is the kid who hasn’t reached college yet. He knows the situation from both sides after playing for Nick Saban at LSU from 2001-04, helping win the 2003 BCS national championship before spending nine seasons in the NFL.
“If you got a guy that has averaged 17 and 8 last year in college basketball, you’re going to take that over a project coming out of high school,” he said.
Spears pointed to high school basketball players ranked outside the top five or 10 who could now find themselves waiting longer for college coaches to prioritize them while programs chase proven players in the portal. A decade ago, he argued, a top-30 prospect might have expected calls from blue-blood programs. Now those schools can chase experienced players first.
LSU was exploring that option with former Ole Miss TE Dae’Quan Wright and DT Zxavian Harris after both were released by NFL teams. Wright was with Cleveland, while Harris had signed with New Orleans as an undrafted free agent. Then the SEC stepped in. The conference announced that its schools cannot roster athletes who previously declared for the NFL, NBA, or WNBA draft without properly withdrawing. It also covers players who signed professional contracts or appeared on certain professional rosters.
The Big Ten and Big 12 have taken similar positions. Now the NFL has stepped in with its own line in the sand. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the league is reminding teams its existing eligibility rules have not changed. But he also shared what it means for NFL players coming back.
“A player that goes back to college this season will be prohibited from signing with an NFL team this year,” he wrote. “A player signed to an NFL contract who is subsequently cut is a free agent. He may sign with another NFL club, the CFL or return to college, but that player is considered a free agent and will not be subject to a future draft.”
Now, the biggest question is what happens to the teenagers waiting outside it.