On the heels of President Trump issuing an executive order curtailing things like college eligibility and NIL collectives, the NCAA seems to be working on a more concrete way of solving problems for good.
According to college sports insider Ross Dellenger of Yahoo, the NFL is "exploring a significant change" to eligibility. The proposal would create an age-based standard of eligibility, giving them exactly five years of eligibility from their 19th birthday or high school graduation. There would be no more redshirts or waivers.
"The NCAA is exploring a significant change to its eligibility rule, sources tell @YahooSports . The proposal creates an age-based standard: Athletes would have 5 years of eligibility from their 19th birthday or HS graduation. No redshirts or waivers," Dellenger wrote on X.
Response from Fans
College fans had mixed reactions to the proposal due in large part to some of the nuances.
"Thank God. There is absolutely no need to watch 25+ year olds play College Basketball on TRO’s. It’s time to move on at that point," one user replied.
"Need it. 24/25/26 year olds should not be playing college sports," wrote another.
"Yes. Good enough. Now fix the NIL disaster and make it actual NIL not revenue from the schools. Pay for play is insanity," a third wrote.
The biggest challenge by far would be getting it to work at religious schools like BYU, where athletes frequently go on religious missions that require them to start their athletic careers later. Some fans are already expecting that BYU will be among the first to challenge this proposal, if it's passed.
"BYU about to throw a lot of money at this one to defeat it."
"What about a religious exemption for Mormons?"
"No word yet on how this would affect Olympic sports like gymnastics, where it’s relatively common to defer eligibility while pursuing elite/Olympic opportunities."
Will this new measure be passed, or will it fall by the wayside?
