Sean McVay can't comprehend players going from NFL camps back to college: 'I feel like I took a freakin' gummy'

A report surfaced Tuesday from ESPN’s Adam Schefter that former Cleveland Browns tight end Dae'Quan Wright was expected to become the first player to go from an NFL roster back to the collegiate ranks on Wednesday. Wright cleared waivers, per Schefter, and reportedly was poised to reunite with his old Ole Miss head coach, Lane Kiffin, at LSU.

Hours later, the SEC joined other conferences in adopting timely policy to prevent, among other things, a member institution from rostering an athlete who has previously declared for the NFL Draft and didn’t appropriately withdraw.

Wright is one of several athletes from the 2022 high school class trying to capitalize on the NCAA’s new five-year eligibility model. The age-based system, which eliminates redshirts and waivers, was unanimously approved by the NCAA Division I Cabinet in June but excluded student-athletes who exhausted their eligibility during the 2025-26 academic year, a group that includes many athletes who first enrolled in 2022. Essentially, the NCAA drew a line in the sand, much to the dismay of more than 150 athletes who have filed eligibility lawsuits across 15 different states, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. Put simply, they want in on another season of eligibility like their peers.

ESPN’s @sarahbarshop asked Sean McVay about players in NFL camps going back to college. McVay: “I feel like I took a freakin’ gummy.”

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay was asked about the controversy on Tuesday during training camp, and before the question was done being asked, he blurted out, “Yeah, I can't even comprehend this stuff.”

“It's wild. I don't know enough about it other than the fact that guys that can be in NFL camps, if it doesn't go down for them, they can go back to college.”

McVay also delivered a quote that perhaps best encapsulates the madness, when describing his perception of the eligibility mania: “I feel like I took a freakin’ gummy,” he said, per the Los Angeles Times’ Gary Klein.

McVay added: “I don't even understand it. … I mean, I'm looking at this stuff. I'm like, 'Surely that's not real.' I just try to stay in my lane. But I would say it's very unique, and it's very different. ... It's wild.

“That's what I would say.”

The way things are going, pro hopefuls like Wright could very well be without a permissible landing spot in the realm of college sports. With the NCAA’s limited court success of late, conferences seem to be taking matters into their own hands.

That said, it’s worth noting that the NCAA has won a stay in three of the aforementioned eligibility cases, including a class action filed in federal court, where a Colorado judge had granted all players who were part of the 2022 high school class a fifth year of eligibility. As a result, those players are now ineligible unless they receive separate relief in state court.

Wright was part of a group of former college football players who were granted a temporary restraining order by a federal judge in Louisiana. That TRO notably enabled them to enter the transfer portal, even the athletes who were on NFL rosters.