It seems the controversy over college football teams adding NFL players is over, at least for now. The LSU Tigers have officially closed the door on adding former NFL players Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris to the roster, instead giving the last two roster spots to other players, report Pete Nakos and Wilson Alexander of On3. Pete Thamel of ESPN reports those two players are Aiden Anding and Gabriel Reliford.
While this debate over Wright and Harris — former Cleveland Brown and New Orleans Saint, respectively — has come to an end, it didn't happen without some extraordinary threats. The SEC on Tuesday sought authority from a federal court to remove LSU from the conference if LSU persisted down this path, something that is expected to be considered at a meeting of member schools on Thursday, report Justin Williams, Seth Emerson and Matt Baker of The Athletic. In a statement, the SEC said they were seeking to "protect the right of the Conference and its member institutions to govern themselves." “The SEC and its member universities have the right to establish, through agreed-upon governance procedures, the rules under which they voluntarily compete and to expect those rules to be followed," the statement said.
"A commitment to those rules, and to the core principles of the Southeastern Conference, is an essential element of SEC membership. Today’s filing is necessary to defend that right and preserve the Conference’s ability to govern competition among its members.” Now that coach Lane Kiffin and LSU have backed down from adding ex-NFL players, Thursday's meeting might be more of a tongue lashing than the beginning of any substantive move. But even making that threat was a huge gesture for the SEC, and perhaps the rest of the league has shown LSU what might happen if the Tigers step out of line, The Athletic's reporters noted.
"For a conference that has increasingly discussed its interest in self-governance, the situation underscores how seriously the SEC is treating its ability to enforce rules and sanctions — as well as how much animosity Kiffin and LSU have spawned with this saga," they wrote.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
