Ezra Christensen is still waiting for Colorado football to clear up his eligibility, and the delay has left the New Mexico State transfer defensive lineman stuck far from Boulder while fall camp rolls on.
Instead of practicing with the Buffs, Christensen has been training in the Florida heat. Colorado is three weeks into camp, the season opener is less than two weeks away, and he says the uncertainty has worn him down.
“I have never missed fall camp,” Ezra Christensen told DNVR’s Scott Procter. “It’s frustrating that I’ve missed two weeks of fall camp already.
Guys are way ahead of me. They’ve been practicing and it’s insane because I’m way behind.
I might not be behind physically because I’m working out and doing what I’m supposed to, but mentally, it’s draining.
“I’m sitting here when I could be helping my team and building more chemistry.”
Christensen said he expected some kind of answer last week, but the latest update from him and his attorney, Darren Heitner, is that a Boulder judge is working on an order for the pending motion and neither side needs to do anything else right now.
He is asking for quick relief eligibility for the upcoming season through an injunction against the NCAA, and he’s watching other players in similar spots get approved. Former Temple defensive lineman Khalil Poteat and former Indiana defensive lineman Hosea Wheeler both received injunctions this month, letting them play this season for Vanderbilt and Baylor, respectively. Both began their college careers at junior college, just like Christensen.
“We provided every similar case to the judge,” Ezra Christensen said. “These guys got their injunctions and there’s no difference from my case.
“What’s taking you two weeks to decide?”
The NCAA recently filed a decision as supplemental authority in Christensen’s case, even after the court said no further action was needed. Heitner called that move a “dirty play.”
Christensen said the whole situation has him wondering whether something beyond the legal arguments is slowing things down.
“It’s frustrating to talk about it,” Ezra Christensen said. “I don’t know if it’s a politics thing. I don’t know if it’s a Coach Prime or Colorado thing.
“I know for sure if I was at another institution, this would’ve been a lot easier.”
Being away from the team has cost him the chance to stack reps and build chemistry during camp, and he said defensive line coach Dante Carter checks in on him often. Still, the uncertainty has been hanging over him since the spring.
“I need to practice, I need to be there and build trust with the team,” Ezra Christensen said. “I’m not just going to show up and do a miracle.
In the spring, I wasn’t really myself because this whole thing is a mind f***. Knowing you can wake up and not be allowed in the facilities, which is exactly where I’m at right now.
“If I knew exactly what was going on, I would’ve just declared for the draft.”
That isn’t just talk. The NFL Draft was, and still is, a real option for Christensen.
At 6-foot-2 and 280 pounds, he’s the highest-graded returning Big 12 defensive tackle at 88.6, according to Pro Football Focus. In 2025, he posted 11 TFLs and six sacks, earned first-team All-CUSA honors and led all FBS defensive linemen with 28 total QB hurries.
For now, he says getting back into football shape won’t be a long process once he’s finally able to join Colorado.
“I don’t feel like it should take me that long to get going,” Ezra Christensen said.
He’s also leaning on a tougher backstory to keep perspective. Christensen grew up without parents in an orphanage in Sierra Leone, was adopted at 16 and had never seen American football before then. COVID-19 wiped out his senior high school season, forcing him to take the junior college path before he became one of the country’s top defensive linemen at New Mexico State.
If he gets the chance, he says the next chapter at Colorado will carry a different edge.
“This lit a different type of fire,” Ezra Christenen said. “This is where I have to feed my family.
My people back home in Africa are counting on me and looking forward to watch me play. Everyday I wake up, it’s like they’re taking food off my plate.
“It’s a different type of mentality I have right now. When I first got to Colorado, my goal was to have double-digit sacks and be a part of a winning team.
Now, it’s about revenge. I’m on a revenge tour now.
It’s personal. Everything is personal from now on.”
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