Talk:Redshirt (college sports)

NCAA Link
NCAA link at the bottom is now defunct. Can't find the new link. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.0.153.249 (talk) 07:23, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

I've read this three times and still don't get what it means. Can someone please rewrite the intro to make it understandable to non-Americans? Stifle (talk) 13:22, 6 June 2006 (UTC)


 * You are right, it needed work. I have modified the page and I believe I have addressed your concerns.  (Terryn3 22:08, 6 June 2006 (UTC))
 * It's much better now. I'm still a little confused, though. If someone has four years of eligibility and spends four years getting a bachelor's degree, why would they ever need to do this? Stifle (talk) 09:32, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
 * The best known usage of the redshirt is for college football and college basketball, which at the highest levels are big-money sports and most players are playing in college to prepare for a professional career. Having a fifth year allows a student-athlete to progress farther, enhancing their prospects for a professional career.  Also, fifth-year players are very experienced, and can help a team win, and with all the money that is out there for the winningest programs and coaches that is an enticement.  I don't know about the depth of usage of redshirting in other sports, so I didn't write the article around football and basketball. The rules around redshirting are not specific to those sports. (Terryn3 22:52, 7 June 2006 (UTC))

"Depth"?
There's a sentence in this entry—"This is a common occurance in many sports where there is already an established starter or too much depth at the position in which the freshman in question is planning to play."—that uses a term—"depth"—that I don't understand in the given context. Does it just mean there are many people on the team that can play the position—many back-ups? -Dan 16:41, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes, that it exactly what having depth at a position means. --Steve

Yep that would be it Danny. --Ballin'

Academic Sophomore?
I thought universities considered students academic sophomores if they have obtained a specific number of units (e.g. 30 units). This article implies that all redshirt freshmen have become academic sophomores, but I don't think that is necessarily true. Does anyone know for sure?

To remain eligible, a student-athelete must meet progress-towards-degree requirements (NCAA Bylaw 14.4). This requires 12 pages to explain in 165.2.186.10 19:47, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Greyshirt?
Would this be an appropriate article to add a brief discussion of the so called 'grayshirt' classification? While not officially recognized by the NCAA (at least as far as I can tell). The grayshirt is an entering freshman that enters college in the spring semester in order to gain an extra semester of practice with the team, including spring training. This is another way that teams can get more practice time without sacrificing eligibility. I believe it is predominantly used by football programs (since unlike basketball) their season is entirely contained within the fall semester.


 * I'd like to see an article on greyshirting as well. (or a section here) Hogvillian (talk) 03:41, 9 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Why the British spelling ("grey" instead of "gray")? I realize Wikipedia doesn't prefer American spelling over British, but if we're talking about American football and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (where the USA is the "nation"), I'd think we'd use the American spelling.  I suppose you'll find citations for it and use whichever spelling they use.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.199.244.121 (talk) 01:43, 20 August 2009 (UTC)


 * whatchu talkin' bout, willis?! grey is the standard US spelling -- shirt or no shirt. 66.105.218.22 (talk) 06:30, 3 December 2011 (UTC)

Junior College
If an athlete competes as a true freshman on an NAIA team then transfers to a junior college for his sophomore year, where they do not have a team, but he competes in open tournaments; does his sophomore year count as one of his four years of eligibility? MickeyMartin 19:25, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

Redshirting after injury
I can't find a reference, but I know this happens - players can petition for a redshirt if they've been injured, even if they did play some during the season. --AW (talk) 00:51, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

Redshirting Rules
Can an athlete that has had academic difficulty during a school year and as a result has become academically ineligible by the college's standards for the next school year be redshirted that next year while they get their grades back up to the school's standards or do NCAA rules prohibit the redshirting of academically ineligible players?Bulldogs86 (talk) 14:49, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Any athletic competition?
The article states that you lose your redshirt status if you participate in any athletic competition. This is not the case. I believe it is NCAA sanctioned events or something, because as we all know, wrestlers can compete in "open tournaments" and I'm sure similar competitions exist in other sports. Someone who is familiar with the rules may want to amend that section so that it's correct. 71.186.98.96 (talk) 04:49, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

redshirt in pro football
The third paragraph currently reads:


 * The term is also used in American professional football. In this instance, a red jersey is worn by a player—usually the team's starting quarterback—during practice and signifies that the player is not to be tackled or hit during practice to prevent injury to a critical member of the team.

- Is the player thus distinguished really called "a bloodshirt"?

- Even so, does this belong in the article "Redshirt (college sports)"?

It seems to me that even if this is true -- there's no citation (and this paragraph needs a citation rather more badly than the citation-less entire rest of the article) -- it should be in an article like "redshirt (American professional football)". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.163.13.198 (talk) 00:37, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

I did a Google search for "NFL red-shirt". I didn't find any cases where a player who wore a red (or otherwise distinguished) shirt so other players knew not to hit him was called a "red shirt". Far more common were references to players' redshirt college years. Also, some pages referring to teams (such as the Arizona Cardinals) that wear red jerseys. I conclude that whoever added the paragraph about professional football was under the mistaken impression that the article was about shirts which are red, and not about the term "Redshirt (college sports)". I'm removing the paragraph in question. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.197.252.145 (talk) 02:24, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Less than 10%? Or more? Or what?
I am having trouble digesting this sentence, although I feel I understand the entire rest of the article:
 * "Contrary to common belief, a player may not be granted a redshirt if he or she has participated in less than 10% of the season taking place in an academic year."

I don't happen to share that common belief, whatever it is, but what are we trying to say here? Is the sense not reversed? Shouldn't it be more than 10%? And where's the 10% come from (other places mention "a single football play", or "a single point in volleyball")? Please help cure my indigestion. &mdash; JohnFromPinckney (talk) 17:26, 20 January 2010 (UTC)


 * The sentence needs a citation that this is actually a "common belief", but what I think it's trying to say is that many people think an athlete remains eligible to redshirt if he has played in less than 10% of the season, when it's actually far less - one play will remove redshirt eligibility.PaulGS (talk) 20:12, 22 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Ah, okay, I get it now. I think what threw me is the fact that I have never in my life heard anyone throw a 10% figure around on this topic. If it's indeed a common belief, maybe it is just as commonly being kept secret from me. A conspiracy! Or maybe not.


 * Maybe I wouldn't have stumbled so badly on this if the last two lines had read something like:


 * "The redshirt rule states that any competition counts against a player's eligibility.[1] There is no allowed number of competitions, for example 10% of the season's contests, in which a player may participate while still maintaining redshirt status."


 * But then, what do I know? I came here to find out what it was in the first place. ;-) &mdash; JohnFromPinckney (talk) 22:48, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

athletic elegibility
I always wanted to know what would be required academically of a red-shirt senior who has graduated (or for that matter, any athlete who graduates before using up his athletic eligibility). I think there was a Georgetown basketball player who enrolled as a graduate-school student before his final red-shirt year, but I don't know if he was forced into this to keep his athletic eligibility. In his case, did he have to remain a matriculated student? Could he have done less? Did he even have to take a class? April 27, 2011. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.117.72.155 (talk) 16:13, 27 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Good question. I am sure that an athlete would have to be enrolled in a graduate program and be a full time student, I.e., be enrolled for a minimum of 12 credit hours I courses which would qualify for a degree. I've known of a couple of cases at the local university and they all were described as being grad students. Plus I don't think the NCAA is going to give a player a free pass.Wschart (talk) 20:58, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

Wording: Eligibility versus participation
The opening sentence correctly says


 * Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation to lengthen his or her period of eligibility. 

That is, it lengthens the period of eligibility from four to five years, and the redshirt year is one of the years of eligibility. But later the lead says


 * a redshirt freshman refers to an athlete in the first year of eligibility.

and the article later says


 * The term redshirt freshman indicates an academic sophomore who is in his or her first season of athletic eligibility.

Both of these wrongly imply that the player was not eligible in his redshirt year. So I’m rewording these to refer to athletic participation, to agree with the opening sentence. Loraof (talk) 23:12, 2 December 2017 (UTC)