# NFL Q? Can a college player choose which team he wants to play for? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 28, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-q-can-a-college-player-choose-which-team-he-wants-to-play-for/632976 "2012-08-28T23:36:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-q-can-a-college-player-choose-which-team-he-wants-to-play-for/632976/41 "2012-08-30T23:39:54Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > The current rule is that players have to declare themselves eligible for the NFL amateur draft by filing an application with the NFL. However, that only applies to amateur players because professionals cannot be drafted. Papale played a couple of semi-pro games and was thus ineligible for the draft. That sounds like a loophole you could drive a truck through. Are you saying that if Bill Gates bought the Seahawks last year, and he wanted Andrew Luck, he could have made a secret deal with him (through intermediaries who would deny everything, of course) to play a couple of semi-pro games and then sign with Seattle for a zillion bucks, without going through the draft? ---
**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:** [August 31, 2012, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-q-can-a-college-player-choose-which-team-he-wants-to-play-for/632976/42 "2012-08-31T04:26:20Z")
Well, the NFL salary cap is comfortably under a zillion bucks, but anyway: here the hell would he play a couple of semi-pro games between the end of the college season and April? What if he got hurt playing for $20? ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-q-can-a-college-player-choose-which-team-he-wants-to-play-for/632976/43 "2012-08-31T23:27:49Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Well, the NFL salary cap is comfortably under a zillion bucks, but anyway: here the hell would he play a couple of semi-pro games between the end of the college season and April? You just said that Luck wouldn’t be in the amateur draft unless he applied for it, so there is no April deadline. And Gates could easily arrange a pre- or post-season game for him. He could also hire Mitt Romney to hide most of Luck’s salary in Cayman Island banks. > [@](#): > > What if he got hurt playing for $20? A non-issue. Gates could pay the opposing players an extra $20 to not hit him. And it’s not uncommon for college players who would be high draft choices to stay in school and play an entire season for free, risking injury every game. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-q-can-a-college-player-choose-which-team-he-wants-to-play-for/632976/44 "2012-08-31T23:47:09Z")
And besides all that, don’t you become a pro as soon as you take money from a pro team? I recall Tiger Woods getting in semi-serious trouble with the NCAA while at Stanford, because he allowed Arnold Palmer to buy him lunch. So Luck wouldn’t have to play any games, he could just be paid to work out in the weight room or whatever, and still technically be a pro, right? ---
**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:** [September 1, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-q-can-a-college-player-choose-which-team-he-wants-to-play-for/632976/45 "2012-09-01T17:03:53Z")
> [@](#): > > So Luck wouldn’t have to play any games, he could just be paid to work out in the weight room or whatever, and still technically be a pro, right? Yes, I think. > [@](#): > > That sounds like a loophole you could drive a truck through. I think when the truck in question costs eleventy billion dollars and requires a massive conspiracy it’s probably okay for the NFL to leave the loophole open. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-q-can-a-college-player-choose-which-team-he-wants-to-play-for/632976.md?page=2)