Jason Burgos
This week, LSU legend and multi-time NFL Pro Bowler Tyrann Mathieu poked fun at how absurd eligibility in college football and college basketball has gotten over the last year.
Name, image, and likeness guidelines have completely changed college athletics and turned amateur sports into even more of a business than it was before. With athletes now being able to put their services up to the highest bidder, college football and basketball have become an arms race based on money and less about recruiting pitches.
However, to keep up with the Joneses, players and universities have gone to wild lengths to push the boundaries of eligibility. Schools are bringing young pros from European leagues to play for their basketball programs. Or former G-League talent actually drafted into the NBA. And football players are looking for ways to extend their eligibility well beyond what was once the norm.
Both universities and athletes are also finding local judges to rule in their favor. The most recent best example was a Texas judge approving an injunction so Brendan Sorsby can play a season at Texas Tech despite breaking code of conduct guidelines by betting on games throughout his college football career.
Tyrann Mathieu claims he has two more years of eligibility
With the wild west that is college sports being wilder than ever, former LSU star Tyrann Mathieu took to X this week to mock how silly things are getting.
“Can I return to college football?” Mathieu wrote. “I only played 2 seasons, so I should have 2 more eligibility years left. Can you find me a judge in Louisiana who can see to it that Honey Badger gets to finish his last 2 years of college football? Who’s going to say no?”
While we have not gotten to a point where former NFL, NBA, or MLB players have returned to play in the college ranks, the current landscape isn’t far off. It has become the new fear of fans and pundits that the arms race will get so out of control that more notable former pros will go back to the amateur ranks to compete again for big money.
Mathieu ended his NFL career two years ago after 12 seasons in the league. The 34-year-old earned Pro Bowl honors on three occasions.
