The line in the SEC between college professional sports still matters | Opinion

This should be an extraordinary moment for Southeastern Conference football.

Across our 16 universities, student-athletes have spent months preparing for a season that will showcase some of the best teams, traditions and environments in college sports. Fans have waited all year for it.

Instead, the opening of this season is being consumed by an unnecessary controversy over whether athletes who have already entered professional sports should be allowed to return to college competition.

Part of the confusion comes from treating two separate issues as though they are the same.

One question is how many years an athlete should be permitted to compete in college. There is an active national debate about fifth-year eligibility, and courts have issued rulings on those questions. That is not what this op-ed is about.

The issue over pro athletes who try to return to college sports is different, and the SEC’s position is clear: an athlete who has signed a professional playing contract has entered professional sports and should not be permitted to return to college competition in that sport.

For decades, college athletics has maintained a distinction between college and professional sports. NCAA eligibility rules have long reflected that principle. The SEC did not…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/sports/