Colts GM Chris Ballard Calls NFL Players Returning to College Football 'the Stupidest Thing I've Ever Heard'

Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard didn't hold back Tuesday, September 1, when reporters asked if any of his players had asked to leave the NFL and go back to college.

"No," Ballard said, according to CBS Sports. "It's the stupidest shit I've ever heard. I'm sorry. I know I'll catch crap for this. Your entire life, you fight to get up to the NFL, but now we're gonna go back? OK, that makes a lot of freaking sense."

None of Indianapolis's players are involved, according to CBS Sports. Ballard's comments landed in the middle of a legal and logistical mess that's rewriting the line between professional and college football.

How we got here

The NCAA adopted a new "five-for-five" eligibility model, giving athletes five years to play five college seasons, according to The New York Times. The problem: it didn't cover fourth-year seniors who had already used up eligibility under the old rules, specifically the 2022 high school recruiting class.

That gap triggered a wave of lawsuits from more than 30 athletes in Louisiana, according to the Times, who won a temporary restraining order allowing them to play college football this season. To qualify, players who had signed NFL contracts must terminate those deals and repay any earnings already collected.

One of the higher-profile cases involved Tampa Bay Buccaneers edge rusher Jack Pyburn, a 22-year-old undrafted rookie who said returning to LSU "was a possibility as a backup option" if he didn't make Tampa Bay's 53-man roster. Pyburn's Buccaneers deal guaranteed him $115,000, including a $15,000 signing bonus. He was waived Sunday, then claimed off waivers by the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday, according to Fox Sports, ending his path back to college.

Other players didn't get claimed. Former Ole Miss tight end Dae'Quan Wright, who briefly signed with the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent, was waived by Cleveland and chose to join LSU under head coach Lane Kiffin. Defensive tackle Zxavian Harris and tight end Junior Tuihalamaka are also part of LSU's push to add former pros, per Fox Sports.

The conferences and the league both said no

The SEC and Big Ten both banned players with pro rosters from returning to college, and the rest of the Power Four conferences followed, according to CBS Sports. Administrators at other SEC schools have reportedly threatened to seek LSU's expulsion from the conference over the plan.

The NFL has also moved to shut the door on a return trip. The league will bar any player who goes back to college this season from signing with an NFL team until after the 2026 season, and those players won't be eligible for next year's draft either, according to the Times. They'd instead be treated as free agents who signed and were cut.

A hearing scheduled for Thursday, September 3, in Baton Rouge will examine the SEC's ban directly, according to Fox News and WFMD. The outcome could determine whether LSU can actually put Wright, Harris or Tuihalamaka on the field this season.

Coaches are split, but not by much

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, whose team opens the season against LSU on Saturday, called the situation "embarrassing" Tuesday, per WFMD. "I don't blame the kids and people trying to take advantage of the system," Swinney said. "I just think it's embarrassing where we are with college football." He then joked he'd spent the week "studying the Browns, the Cowboys, the Saints and the Bucs" to prepare for LSU.

Rams coach Sean McVay offered a similarly baffled take last week: "I feel like I took a freakin' gummy. I can't even comprehend this stuff. It's wild," according to Fox Sports.

Not everyone in LSU's own locker room seems bothered. Starting tight end Trey'Dez Green told reporters he's focused on winning, even if that means sharing reps with Wright, according to CBS Sports.

The players pursuing this path aren't chasing a loophole for fun. They're suing because a rule change created a gap that cost their specific graduating class an extra year everyone else got. Whether that's a legitimate fairness claim or a court-ordered mess that breaks competitive balance is now up to a Louisiana judge to sort out Thursday, with LSU's season opener against Clemson looming two days later.