The Louisville football program (No. 7 in the nation) announced Tuesday that it will no longer accept autograph requests to protect the eligibility of its players.
The football program no longer will be accepting autograph requests due to growing concerns over eligibility of its student-athletes.
— Louisville Football (@LouisvilleFB) October 4, 2016
The obvious logic behind this is that the university does not want there to be any potential for quarterback Lamar Jackson to become ineligible.
Though, the same logic applies to all the players on the football team not named Lamar Jackson.
The sophomore is far and away the nation’s top Heisman favorite after racking up 28 touchdowns (14 rushing, 14 passing) in just five games so far in 2016. He’s also the main reason why Louisville heads into its bye week with a 4-1 record and why it has a shot to make the playoffs.
Given the NCAA’s propensity for finding ridiculous ways to punish student-athletes, Louisville is smart to take a proactive approach to protecting its players.
Hopefully Jackson and his teammates protect themselves by not doing anything on their own that might endanger their eligibility.