On Thursday, the legal battle over the SEC’s attempt to ban former NFL players returns to court. The situation has stirred very strong feelings.
Via Amanda Christovich of Front Office Sports, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has urged the SEC to react harshly, if LSU follows through on its plan to play players who hope to return to college after offseason and preseason stints in pro football.
“If LSU does in fact roster one or more pro athletes or demonstrates concrete plans to do so, we would strongly encourage the SEC to take all measures available to address this conduct, up to and including suspending and/or removing LSU from the Conference,” Carr wrote in a Wednesday letter to the SEC.
“College sports are for college athletes only, and we are grateful that the SEC has taken swift action to maintain that standard,” Carr added. “However, rules cannot be ignored or twisted to benefit one coach, one institution, or one program, and we refuse to stand by while that happens.”
Carr’s message comes amid reports of internal chatter regarding the potential taking of “extreme measures” against LSU, up to and including expulsion.
The issue ultimately will be decided by the courts. For players who are seeking retroactive application of the NCAA’s new five-year rule, none of this is their fault. The system has made the mess — and the system keeps making things messier. Possibly with the goal of making it so messy that Congress will clean it all up.
Regardless, the stakes are potentially high. And even if the SEC doesn’t follow through on threats to remove LSU from the conference, the situation could spawn the kind of hard feelings that may prompt LSU to eventually look elsewhere.
Hey, maybe the Big Ten would like to establish a foothold in the Deep South.
