Deion Sanders addresses issues with NCAA redshirt rules

Several teams across college football have had players decide to redshirt in recent weeks, refusing to play in a fifth game in order to preserve an extra year of eligibility. Colorado is among them.

The Buffaloes revealed that linebackers Trevor Woods and Jeremiah Brown have asked to redshirt the rest of the season.

Coach Deion Sanders has mixed opinions on the practice and thinks the NCAA should be regulating a little more closely how the redshirting midseason process works for both teams and players.

“You’ve got to understand that I understand it and always want what’s best for the kids. I really do,” Sanders said. “Like that’s their prerogative. But you know it kind of puts us in a situation, because now is there a question are you redshirting for us or are you redshirting for you?”

It can certainly leave teams in a bind.

Woods and Brown had appeared in each of Colorado’s first four games before deciding to redshirt prior to the UCF game. The Buffaloes had to scramble to find replacements mid-season.

Sanders want to see schools granted the ability to cut a player loose if they decide to redshirt midseason.

“It should be NCAA rules and guidelines that if you choose that particular course, not that our guys are, we should be able to allow you to go,” Sanders said. “Because if a guy is redshirting for himself and he don’t plan on being here, why would you want him here and he don’t plan on being here? That’s really not fair to him, it’s not fair to his teammates.”

He pointed to a particular example.

“It’s a lot of unfairness, like the gentleman who chose the redshirt, the (UNLV) quarterback,” Sanders said. “So is it right that he’s still practicing with the team? What course of action is that? So you just let him walk away.”

Colorado will make do without its two linebackers. There’s really no other option. They made that decision, now both parties must live with it.

Sanders would just like to see a little more in the way of firm guardrails on the topic.

“It should be something, it needs to be a rule NCAA-wise to, if that’s your course of action, they should let them go and start their next journey with whatever team that is that they’ve already been talking to, because they’ve already been talking,” Sanders said. “Just like the two guys that we played several weeks ago at Colorado State. They said they were offered how much in the portal? How you were offered 600 and you didn’t get in the portal? Why can’t none of y’all ask that question? How are you offered $600,000 but you didn’t get in the portal?”

Sanders smiled and then concluded.

“I got time today,” he said.