[TDDance234]

OKLAHOMA CITY -- NCAA president Myles Brand said he isn't necessarily opposed to a recent proposal by the NCAA football issues committee that would extend player eligibility in the sport to five years.

Brand, speaking Friday at the Women's College World Series, even said the idea "might be favorable" if it included the elimination of the practice of redshirting.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2890793



Discuss.

[Sly Fox]

I wouldn't have any issue with it under those guidelines. The vast majority of all football players are already on campus at least five years and I have always thought redshirting made no sense.

This type of thinking has some precedent. Until the '70s, players were limited to three years of playing with no freshmen allowed on the field at all (they had to settle for freshmen teams).

On the negative side, it will limit the number of opportunities for players to some degree with the same number of scholarships lasting longer.

But what left my jaw dropped was this nugget:

Brand said much of the support for a football playoff came from the media, and not necessarily the universities or their fans.

"The reason for that is, in Division I-A football, the most important events are the regular-season Saturday games," Brand said. "... The fact of the matter is it's those Saturdays that the institutions look forward to, and a great many in their fan base do [as well].

What planet is this guy living on? I don't think I have ever met a "fan" who didn't want a playoff system. Brand needs to spend less time hanging with provosts and deans and spend more time amongst the living.

[01LUGrad]

If this flies, can I get one more year in track/XC? I'm going out for a run just in case...

[WinthropEagleFan]

If they want to do something like this for just football, I definitely don't like it...why not do it for all sports if you are going to do it for one? Football players have the fewest amount of games of any college athlete and play 90-95% of their games on the weekend, so I'd be willing to bet that they miss the fewest amount of classes due to travel and due to their sport in general. So why should they get different treatment?

[Sly Fox]

But football is the only sport where redshirting plays a significant role in the life cycle of student athletes at a university. Its also where the greatest revenues can be gained.

[thesportscritic]

like WEF said i think it (the eligibility rule) should be done for all sports not just for football.

[ATrain]

like WEF said i think it (the eligibility rule) should be done for all sports not just for football.

I quite agree...we would love for Jonita Randolph to have another year playing for us.

[olldflame]

Thumbs down here. 4 years of competition is plenty. Any new career records would be meaningless, or you would need seperate categories for 4 year or 5 year records. IMHO redshirting makes perfect sense, especially for football. It gives an 18 year old kid a year to adjust to college life and develop physically before playing for 4 years.

[Sly Fox]

There already should be notations for players who only had three years under the old system IMHO.

If this came to a vote for all sports it would die a quick death. Football only will have a slight chance of passing due to the financial implications.

[Libertine]

This has been talked about for a couple years now. It would be for all sports, not just football.

[HenryGale]

How about the president of the NCAA referring to it as "Division 1A football"

[Fumblerooskies]

How about the president of the NCAA referring to it as "Division 1A football"

Warms my heart.

[PAmedic]

I'm ignoring this.