Thread: Do all college players HAVE to enter the draft to get on a team?

Originally Posted by BaileyTheBest

Oh I see. But yeah, given how short NFL careers are and how easy it is to sustain a career-ending injury, no one is going to forego a year of making money to play football if they don't have to.

Yes, which was the rest of my post.

But there's an example of it happening, albeit in a different sport.

Night Train Lane was a training camp walk on, as Jason Garret more recently was, but only because no one drafted them. It's very unlikely anyone good enough to win a starting spot as a walk on and have a HoF career manages to aviod being drafted. About the only way it could happen now is if a guy had a stellar college career but very vocally and publicly refused to play for anyone. Even then the chance NONE of 224 draft picks were spent on him, even in the last rounds, would be small. Even after Elway told the Colts he'd NEVER play for them AND got drafted by the Yankees he was STILL the #1 overall pick.

Bottom line is if a team drafts a player they own his rights, but after the draft anyone left can become an UDFA. Sometimes that includes HoFers, but only rarely.

a person doesn't "enter the draft"

a player plays in college, and after a certain amount of years he is eligible to be drafted by a team in the NFL (or any league). If you are not drafted, you are a UFA
You can opt to make yourself eligible for the draft early, but the same rules apply. Players get drafted by many leagues each year, not just the NFL... the MLB, CFL, also draft the same players if they think the player may choose to go there.

A team drafting a player is just stating to the leagues governors that they own the players rights... nothing more.
If a drafted player doesnt sign with the team in a year they can be drafted in the next draft.

Originally Posted by dbfan2007

You keep repeating that if a team calls your name, they own you. I get that. That's not what the question is.

Do you have to enter the draft to enter the NFL? If you don't enter the draft, can a team still call your name?

If Andrew Luck didn't contact the NFL and didn't get an agent and didn't do anything NFL related. A team thinks he's good. Do they draft him to own his rights? Can he get his name called even if he doesn't plan on playing in the NFL right then? After the draft can he be a free agent and sign with any team? Or does he have to enter the NFL draft to be eligible to be signed to an NFL team?

Sorry DB, I was away from the site for the weekend. I think you've gotten the answer...which is what I did keep repeating. ANYONE can be drafted (as long as they are three years from their HS graduation). You don't have to "enter" the draft. When a college player announces that he's no longer playing NCAA football, he's not really "declaring" for the draft, he's simply declaring that he's ELIGIBLE to be drafted since he's "renounced" his amatuer statis. If you are out of HS for three years, you can be drafted...you don't have to "sign up" for the draft. Which is why I kept saying "ANYONE can be drafted." Whether or not they decide to play, or, don't make the team is a different story.

And, as I believe has already been answered. If Andrew Luck didn't want to play for the Colts, he could have sat out a year and then re-entered the draft the next year (wouldn't KC be happy if he did that!). Guys like Andrew Luck would have been ok because he STILL would have been the #1 overall pick had he done that, but generally speaking, not only would you lose a ton of respect in the NFL, you could lose MILLIONS of dollars that you most probably would never make up in your career (although with the new rookie salary cap, I suppose you could).

**EDIT: Weazel above states it better

Has it ever been done in the NFL? A player sitting out a year and being re-drafted? You'd think over the history of the league at least one guy would do it.

Originally Posted by BaileyTheBest

Has it ever been done in the NFL? A player sitting out a year and being re-drafted? You'd think over the history of the league at least one guy would do it.

Bo Jackson.

Originally Posted by MOtorboat

Bo Jackson.

Beat me to it.

here's a list of players I found that re-entered the draft after not signing with the original team...

Craig Erickson (Phil., Tampa Bay) 1991-92
Bo Jackson (Tampa Bay, L.A. Raiders) 1986-87
Melvin Bratton (Miami, Denver) 1988-89
Matt Darwin (Dallas, Phil.) 1985-86
Monroe Eley (K.C., Atlanta) 1973-74
John Tate (NY Jets, NY Giants) 1974-75
Brownie Wheless (Miami, Detroit) 1970-71
Chris Myers (Houston, Miami) 1970-71

I think there is a clause in the rules that if a player has been chosen twice (chosen in two drafts) in the entry draft and has not come to terms with either team, he is therefore a UFA and can sign with anyone the next season.