# If you want to watch live competitive American Football in the US **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 2, 2015, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-to-watch-live-competitive-american-football-in-the-us/721428 "2015-06-02T08:58:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-to-watch-live-competitive-american-football-in-the-us/721428/41 "2015-06-10T18:58:24Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > I think you missed my point. When you declare for the NFL draft you become NCAA ineligible. Plenty of college juniors have left for the NFL and then go undrafted and, well, sorry. Maybe they get picked up as UDFA, maybe not. But they can’t come back and play college football. Which is an issue with the NCAA’s byzantine rules, but… The NFL now works to provide all juniors who declare for the draft with an assessment from a third-party scout, advising those players as to when they can expect that they would be drafted (or if they would be drafted at all). Now, if the player receives a “fifth round or later” grade, and chooses to not believe it (“I’m better than that! I know I have first round talent!!”), that’s a different issue. Regardless, all the rule is doing is preventing a college junior from playing football in his senior year, if he declares early (granted, if he’s on a sports scholarship, he’ll undoubtedly lose it). It’s not preventing that player from going to college at all. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-to-watch-live-competitive-american-football-in-the-us/721428/42 "2015-06-10T19:04:17Z")
You don’t lose NCAA eligibility by declaring for the draft. You lose it by hiring an agent. Players are free to go through the draft process unrepresented and retain their eligibility. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-to-watch-live-competitive-american-football-in-the-us/721428/43 "2015-06-10T19:40:51Z")
Yes, you lose NCAA eligibility by declaring for the NFL draft. > [@](#): > > A current student-athlete loses amateur status in a particular sport by asking to be placed on the draft list or supplemental draft list of a professional league in that sport. [http://www.ncaa.org/remaining-eligible-professional-draft-inquiries](http://www.ncaa.org/remaining-eligible-professional-draft-inquiries) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-to-watch-live-competitive-american-football-in-the-us/721428/44 "2015-06-10T19:57:28Z")
Does the NFL still have its service where scouts employed by the league would tell prospective players what round, if any, they’d likely be taken in? That certainly kept some young men in school who really needed to be there, and it would be a shame if they had to fall back on agents’ word only. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-to-watch-live-competitive-american-football-in-the-us/721428/45 "2015-06-10T19:58:54Z")
Yes, there is a draft advisory board. Kenobi mentioned it in post 41. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-want-to-watch-live-competitive-american-football-in-the-us/721428.md?page=2)