Attorney Ryan Downton confirmed Saturday morning that Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris are not on LSU's roster for the Clemson opener. "LSU has made a measured decision to keep these two young men off the roster for now while preserving a path for them to be added later," he said. "Everyone should use that space to lower the temperature and look at the facts." He asked that level heads prevail. [1]
Friday this paper reported that LSU left Wright and Harris off the 103-man list after winning an injunction Thursday, and that Saturday's news would be the legal fight if it changed, not a score. It changed. Downton had told Yahoo Sports after the ruling that he would ask the court to hold LSU in contempt if the school did not add the men. [2] Saturday he is not holding LSU in contempt. The plaintiffs' lawyer cooled the path. Do not write the Clemson game as played. The statement is the news.
Thursday Judge William Jorden granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting the NCAA and SEC from punishing schools that roster the named plaintiffs, and barred LSU from taking adverse action against them. [1] [2] Friday's 103-man list, with two spots still open under the 105-player limit, left Wright and Harris off and put Junior Tuihalamaka on. Blake Cotton, a former Utah cornerback who signed with the Denver Broncos and was released, is also off. Cotton has not publicly committed to LSU. Neither Wright nor Harris was expected to play even if rostered. Harris had not practiced. Wright had practiced twice. [1] [2] [5] Tuihalamaka never signed NFL paper. That distinction is the member answering Greg Sankey while Jorden's order sits on the state side.
NOLA.com's Koki Riley writes that Friday's list does not comply with Thursday's court order and does abide by the SEC's federal lawsuit in Alabama, filed against Lane Kiffin, athletic director Verge Ausberry, and the university, aimed at barring LSU from adding the players. [2] U.S. District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon had not ruled. Do not write an Alabama verdict. Mike Florio, at NBC Sports, filed the omission as LSU blinking, given the conference reaction and the risk to the school's future in the SEC. [3] Downton's Saturday statement is the temperature change Florio's blink required.
Downton said SEC commissioner Greg Sankey repeatedly testified that individual circumstances matter and acknowledged he was not familiar with the specific circumstances of these two players. "We agree. Before this escalates any further, examine their actual histories. There is no reason this needs to become a bigger confrontation. Respect the courts, protect the players and let level heads prevail." [2] He added that neither player was drafted, made an NFL roster or practice squad, or played in a preseason game. [1] The LSU Reveille reported that Wright was waived by the Cleveland Browns, dressed for preseason games, and never participated in them, and that Harris was waived by the New Orleans Saints. [5] Keep those sentences side by side. They are not a finding that the men were professionals in the sense Sankey's rule was written to punish. They are the histories Downton asked the conference to read.
Clemson general counsel Chip Hood had emailed that playing former professionals may breach the game contract. Clemson still planned to travel. [4] Dabo Swinney, earlier in the week, called the situation "kind of embarrassing." "I don't blame the kids and people trying to take advantage of the system. I just think it's embarrassing where we are with college football." [4] The College Football Playoff came out in support of rules barring former professional players. [4] Fold CFP and Swinney here. Do not split them. The playoff office and the opposing coach are the sport's respectability chorus. They are not Jorden's order and they are not Downton's cooled motion.
ESPN will file eligibility theater. Fan talk will file a closed shop that made LSU blink. What both underplay is the split this paper named when the men came off the list: they may be eligible and the member still may not use them. Saturday the lawyer who threatened contempt confirmed the omission and asked for level heads. Two spots remain open. No Axon ruling. No contempt filing in the copy fetched here. Wright and Harris remain enrolled. They could be added later. [1] [6] If a later add happens, that is another day. Today's fact is the temperature. The game does not answer the injunction. The statement does.
-- AMARA OKONKWO, Lagos