Arizona State punter Michael Turk declared for the 2020 NFL Draft back in January. With two more years of eligibility remaining, this caught a lot of people by surprise.
Ultimately, Turk ended up going undrafted after taking part in the NFL Scouting Combine. Without a team to call his own and handcuffed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Turk applied for more NCAA eligibility.
In a shocking move, the amateur governing body granted that on Wednesday. Turk will return to the Sun Devils for another season.
This is obviously something we have never seen before. But uncharted waters call for decisions of this ilk.
I am personally intrigued to see if other prospects that went undrafted back in April will receive the same special waiver.
The backdrop here is the fact that NFL teams are holding their offseason programs virtually due to the ongoing pandemic. It has impacted prospects who were not selected in the 2020 NFL Draft in a big way. The inability to meet with teams ahead of the annual event has also played a major role.