Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay speaks to the media after training camp at Loyola Marymount University.
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Normally, when it doesn't look like a rookie is going to make their team's 53-man roster coming out of training camp, their agent will reach out to other teams like the Los Angeles Rams to see if they would like to sign them after clearing waivers.
In 2026, at least for members of the 2022 recruiting class, the question has instead been: should they return to college for a fifth season of eligibility after the US Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals granted an injunction allowing a fifth year of eligibility, which has left Rams head coach Sean McVay in a bit of a, shall we say, head fog.
Discussing the prospects of professional athletes going back to college for another season Old School style, McVay kept it brief but left the definitive piece of criticism on the subject, noting that the entire process has him feeling a certain type of way.
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“I feel like I took a freakin’ gummy,” McVay declared via LA Times' Gary Klein.
Now does the prospects of a player like, say Jack Pyburn, who had two sacks in his preseason debut for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, playing for a college program this fall instead of an NFL organization make about as much sense as buying blizzard insurance in Long Beach? Yes. Does having professional athletes who have already cashed NFL checks returning to college create enough additional questions to make Cheech and Chong's heads spin? You betcha, but for the time being, that is the reality as both the NCAA and NFL seasons approach. Needless to say, how both leagues will handle this injunction will be fascinating.