TJ Harden may be on the move again, and this time the destination could be college football.
Just days after recovering a fumble and logging a pair of red zone carries for the Seattle Seahawks in their preseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys, Harden was waived by Seattle on Monday. Now, according to On3’s Pete Nakos, he plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal even though his college career appeared finished after this past season at SMU.
The twist is that a Louisiana court ruling has cracked open a path for some former college players to return, including athletes who have already spent four full, redshirt-free seasons in school. That ruling is also relevant to Seahawks running back Anthony Hankerson, who recently signed with Seattle and was part of the lawsuit against the NCAA.
ESPN’s Dan Murphy and Pete Thamel laid out the broader picture of the case. The lawsuit includes 16 football players, among them several who signed with NFL teams and took part in training camps earlier this month. Three of those players - Wright, Williams and former Oregon State running back Anthony Hankerson - are currently listed on NFL rosters for the Browns, Cardinals and Seahawks, respectively.
The complaint says the NCAA is violating its “covenant of good faith” by denying these players the same chance to play five college seasons that previous players had and future players will have.
That fight stems from the NCAA’s June eligibility change, which allows athletes to compete in five seasons over a five-year span that starts either when they enroll in college or in the academic year after their 19th birthday, whichever comes first. The new setup also removes most of the waivers that used to extend college careers because of injuries or other special circumstances.
Before that change, players could appear in four seasons during a five-year window, with no specific age limit. But when the Division I Board of Directors approved the new rule, it did not include outgoing seniors who had already played four seasons in their first four years of college, even though they would have qualified for a fifth season under the updated system. NCAA officials said they wanted to avoid a sudden wave of returning fifth-year players taking roster spots from incoming freshmen who had already signed with their teams.
That decision led to the current run of lawsuits in state and federal court. In several cases, judges have issued temporary restraining orders allowing athletes to compete this upcoming season while their cases continue.
So Harden could be headed back into college football, and Hankerson may be right there with him if he does not land an NFL roster spot by the end of the month.
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