"Should Be Ashamed of Themselves": Heisman Winner Robert Griffin III Slams Decision to Let NFL Players Return to College

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In an unprecedented move in football history, federal court rulings have allowed former college football players from the class of 2022 to return for a fifth collegiate season. Multiple NFL rookies have already asked their teams to get cut so they can pursue this avenue. But for the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III, this ruling is ill-advised.

“NFL players should not be allowed to go back to play college football,” RG3 fired off on his X handle. “It’s gross negligence. It’s a disservice to the current college players on any roster. Any coach or school who allows it should be ashamed of themselves. Signed, The People’s Commissioner.”

The core problem with this ruling is pretty clear. With the now-eligible athletes having already moved to bigger things (some of the eligible are currently proving their worth in NFL training camps), the gap they left in their college locker room had already been addressed. But if they’re going back for a fifth year, the depth charts will be thrown out of whack, creating imbalance in the locker room. But the counterargument to this is also strong.

The biggest example of this is tight end Dae’Quan Wright. After going undrafted in the 2026 NFL Draft, it looked like he’d have a path to the gridiron when the Philadelphia Eagles gave him a free-agent deal. But he got waived earlier this month, and the Browns got him next, only to be waived once again. Per ESPN, if Wright clears waivers, he has an agreement to play for LSU this season.

Now, unless Wright had outperformed everyone else in the Eagles / Browns locker rooms and solidified himself as a playmaker, he might have either been stuck on the bottom of the depth chart or worse, stuck on the practice squad waiting for something to break their way. But the federal ruling now gives him the chance to play football on a stage he’s already familiar with. And when this 2026 season ends, who knows? His second NFL journey might turn out better than this one.

All of this stems from the August 19 ruling, where a Louisiana judge granted a group of more than 30 players a temporary restraining order, blocking the NCAA from enforcing its age-based eligibility restriction on the class of 2022. Now, if these players want to go back to play College Football for one more year, all they’d have to do is terminate their NFL contracts and give back any money they may have made from said contract.

Wright was one of the plaintiffs in the case against NCAA, with others including Buccaneers’ Jack Pyburn, Seahawks’ Anthony Hankerson, Cardinals’ Wydett Williams Jr. and more. Just like Wright, TJ Harden, Weylin Lapuaho, and Zxavian Harris have already entered the transfer portal.

The ruling has received immense backlash not just from Robert Griffin III, but countless others, who note that this isn’t fair to current students who are fighting to make their mark on College Football. Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning, for one, has made his stance against this ruling crystal clear.

“I think there’s a lot of negatives that are involved around this,” Lanning said. “One, once you go to the NFL, to me, you’re in the NFL. You don’t get the opportunity to come back. Two, most of us have built our rosters, and you have a roster limit now. So if you invited somebody back to your team, that means you’re kicking somebody else off your team to match your roster limits. I don’t think that’s fair to the players that worked all summer, all spring, and put themselves in position to be ready to work for a team to have somebody come back.”

Robert Griffin III’s criticism also lands in that same pocket. But the floodgates have been opened with this ruling; 16 former college football players now have a chance to go back to their hunting grounds. Could this be the start of a massive culture shift in the NCAA?

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