Tennessee has been a trailblazer in challenging the NCAA; it’s time for the Vols to do it again in the most daring way yet
The Wild West is out of control, and there’s no Wyatt Earp to reign the madness in.
College athletics have badly, badly lost the plot. Well, at least those who govern the sport seem to have.
The NCAA, the conferences, university leaders and coaches, all are complicit in the transition to a minor league professional system in the transfer portal/NIL era. The NCAA failed to put guardrails in place. The conferences have failed to step up and create a viable solution. University and program leaders have looked the other way while poaching and bidding have taken place among programs under the guise of NIL.
It’s the Wild West, and Wyatt Earp is nowhere to be found.
And with that being said, the big ol’ NCAA found the time to pull out its ruler and swat Tennessee and LB Arion Carter on the wrist with a two game suspension for accepting a $427 flight during the pre-NFL Draft process. Carter returned to school and paid the full amount back. Not good enough, said the NCAA.
But meanwhile, former Ole Miss tight end and, until Sunday afternoon, Cleveland Browns tight end Dae’Quan Wright is set to return to college from the NFL and transfer to LSU to play for his old head coach Lane Kiffin, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Wright spent the offseason and training camp playing professional football under a rookie undrafted free agent agreement. And no, there is no punishment pending from the NCAA as part of that process.
Sure, Wright got a judge in Louisiana to sign off on his petition to return to college, so the NCAA can say it’s been hamstrung.
And to that and to them — and to Tennessee — I say who gives a darn?
Tennessee should play Arion Carter despite NCAA suspension if NFL returnees suit up Week 1
I don’t even need to explain the pure ridiculousness of Carter watching from the sideline against Georgia Tech while Wright is making plays against Clemson and celebrating with his teammates on the field, do I? Good. The punitive results of the two situations are as egregious and unbelievably ridiculous as anyone could ever imagine.
There is no doubt the NCAA will hide behind the excuse of legalities for separating Carter’s situation from that of Wright, or of Bucs EDGE Jack Pyburn, who is also fighting to make Tampa Bay’s roster but also considering a return to college. They’ll surely say they would punish Wright and any others but their hands are tied.
But the NCAA is so toothless that it ended up getting in a situation where it can’t stop NFL players from returning to college. What are they going to do when Tennessee says to heck with your ruling (one that Josh Heupel very fairly called “bullshit”)? Is the NCAA, with a straight face, going to enact “penalties” after the fact or strip wins for that minor of a violation while comparative highway robbery is going on in Baton Rouge and elsewhere? And what’s to stop a conference from saying, “nah, if you’re going to allow that kind of nonsense with other schools, we don’t think we’re going to let you do that to our program”? I don’t know. But then again, there are no true rules anymore, so it’s worth a shot.
Tennessee has been fearless against an NCAA organization that’s had a bone to pick with the program for years now. Tennessee beat them in court on the Nico Iamaleava situation. Perhaps it’s time the Vols up the ante and take that fight to the field as well.
To be clear, Tennessee doesn’t need Carter to beat Georgia Tech. He’s certainly outstanding, but the Vols are talented and deep in their linebacker room.
But it goes beyond that to something deeper: fundamental fairness. And if a group of players who decided that college football is just minor league football can still suit up for 12+ games this fall, then someone who chose college football months before that shouldn’t be watching any games from the sideline.
