SEC loses again in court, on effort to bar schools from signing former NFL players

Published August 28, 2026 04:29 PM The SEC now stands for “Sucks when Entering Court.”The conference continues to lose rulings regarding the effort to block its member schools from adding players who were on NFL rosters.Most recently, a Louisiana judge ruled that the SEC can’t issue punishments to programs that use players who had signed NFL contracts. On Wednesday, a Dallas judge issued a similar ruling.Via Dan Murphy of ESPN, the new temporary restraining order blocks the SEC from penalizing schools for welcoming back players with NFL offseason or preseason experience. The judge also signed an order requiring the SEC and NCAA to show cause as to why the rule doesn’t put them in contempt of the prior ruling allowing players to return from the NFL and play.“If Sankey shows up, I’d like to hear his argument,” attorney Tony Clayton said, per Murphy. “What gives him the right to anoint himself God and take these constitutional rights from these kids?” Clayton also blamed the NCAA for making the current mess."[The NCAA] created this cluster, and now they’ve got to lay in that bed,” Clayton said. “If this were going to happen every year, they might be on to something. But this is a one-time deal that they opened up.”He’s right. The situation flows from the NCAA’s new five-year rule — and from an effort by players to have it applied retroactively to them.Even the loss counts as a partial win. The notion of NFL players playing college football is not popular, and the SEC, other conferences, and the NCAA obviously hope to harness that into momentum for getting the Protect College Sports Act passed.