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Question on NFL Draft eligibility (1 Viewer)

offdee

Footballguy
Do guys need to register or do something official to be chosen in the NFL Draft?

Hypothetically speaking, could the NY Jets choose me as their QB of the future in this upcoming draft from my stellar D3 college film from 1998 without me doing a thing? Or would I have to somehow register somewhere for this to happen?

Basically I'm wondering if prior to the NFL Draft is there a master list of every possible player that could be chosen somewhere out there... or is it more or less a free for all as long as that person is 3 years out of high school?

 
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Found the below on an Internet search (which, if it's on the Internet it must be true, right?)

Reading between the lines is it safe to say that any Joe Shmoe off the street can be picked as long as they are 3 years out of graduating High School. "Declaring" for the NFL draft is done by college players...once declared they lose all remaining college eligibility. Why doesn't Joe Shmoe off the street need to "declare" and what do college players have to do to officially "declare".

In example below i'm guessing Carl Lewis and Bob Hayes didn't "declare" for the NFL Draft

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Teams can draft almost anyone they want. In fact, the Dallas Cowboys have drafted two players with no football experience -- Olympic gold-medallists Carl Lewis in 1984 (12th round) and Bob Hayes in 1964 (7th round). Hayes took the ball and ran with it, while Lewis turned down the Cowboys for more Olympic gold.

While athletes from other sports sometimes are drafted, the majority of the players drafted are those who played college football. One of the few draft rules is that underclass players are prohibited from entering the draft until three college football seasons have passed since their high school graduation. This means that almost all freshmen and some sophomores cannot be drafted.

The deadline for underclassmen, sophomores and juniors, to declare themselves eligible for the NFL draft is in January. Once a player declares for the draft, they forego their remaining eligibility to play college football, which means that once they declare for the draft they cannot return to play in college.

 
I'm pretty sure you'd be a free agent by now. I recall a reporter/blogger/someone trying to declare themselves eligible and getting a letter back to the effect that since they were X years removed from high school, they were automatically eligible for a past draft and when they weren't drafted, became a free agent. I would imagine the # is you're automatically eligible 4 years after you graduate and can specifically declare after 3. I would imagine there's a list for people who declare early, not sure there's an exhaustive list of people 4 years removed from HS though.

 
I'm pretty sure you'd be a free agent by now. I recall a reporter/blogger/someone trying to declare themselves eligible and getting a letter back to the effect that since they were X years removed from high school, they were automatically eligible for a past draft and when they weren't drafted, became a free agent. I would imagine the # is you're automatically eligible 4 years after you graduate and can specifically declare after 3. I would imagine there's a list for people who declare early, not sure there's an exhaustive list of people 4 years removed from HS though.
I think you're right. Found this..-----Early entrants College football players who completed high school at least three years prior had until January 15, 2013, to declare their intention to forgo their remaining collegiate eligibility and enter the draft. Complete list of eligible underclassmen The following players were granted special eligibility to enter the 2013 draft: Keenan Allen, WR, California[1] David Amerson, CB, NC State[2] Alvin Bailey, G, Arkansas[3] Stedman Bailey, WR, West Virginia[4] David Bakhtiari, OT, Colorado[5] Dwayne Beckford, LB, Purdue[6] Le'Veon Bell, RB, Michigan State[7] Giovani Bernard, RB, North Carolina[8] Josh Boyce, WR, TCU[9] Tyler Bray, QB, Tennessee[10] Terrence Brown, CB Stanford[11] Duron Carter, WR, Florida Atlantic[12] Knile Davis, RB, Arkansas[13] Mike Edwards, CB, Hawaii[14] Tyler Eifert, TE, Notre Dame[15] Matt Elam, S, Florida[16] Zach Ertz, TE, Stanford[17] Gavin Escobar, TE, San Diego State[18] Chris Faulk, OT, LSU[19] Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida[16] D. J. Fluker, OT, Alabama[20] Michael Ford, RB, LSU[21] Travis Frederick, C, Wisconsin[22] Kwame Geathers, DT, Georgia[23] William Gholston, DE, Michigan State[24] Johnathan Hankins, DT, Ohio State[25] Jajuan Harley, S, Middle Tennessee State[6] DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Clemson[26] Justin Hunter, WR, Tennessee[27] Jawan Jamison, RB, Rutgers[28] Stefphon Jefferson, RB, Nevada[29] Tony Jefferson, S, Oklahoma[30] Jelani Jenkins, LB, Florida[31] Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M[32] Jarvis Jones, LB, Georgia[33] Bhaskar Ganti, NT, Pittsburgh[34] José José, DT, Central Florida[35] Brandon Kaufman, WR, Eastern Washington[36] Joe Kruger, DE, Utah[37] Eddie Lacy, RB, Alabama[20] Marcus Lattimore, RB, South Carolina[38] Corey Lemonier, DE, Auburn[39] Bennie Logan, DT, LSU[21] Stansly Maponga, DE, TCU[40] Tyrann Mathieu, DB, formerly LSU[41] Dee Milliner, CB, Alabama[20] Barkevious Mingo, DE, LSU[21] Kevin Minter, ILB LSU[42] Sam Montgomery, DE, LSU[21] Brandon Moore, DT, Texas[43] Damontre Moore, DE, Texas A&M[44] Alec Ogletree, LB, Georgia[45] Kyle Padron, QB, Eastern Washington[36] Cordarrelle Patterson, WR, Tennessee[46] Justin Pugh, OT, Syracuse[47] Bradley Randle, RB, UNLV[6] Joseph Randle, RB, Oklahoma State[48] Jordan Reed, TE, Florida[49] Eric Reid, S, LSU[50] Xavier Rhodes, CB, Florida State[51] Sheldon Richardson, DT, Missouri[52] Nickell Robey, CB, USC[53] Da'Rick Rogers, WR, Tennessee Tech[54] Logan Ryan, CB, Rutgers[55] Ace Sanders, WR, South Carolina[56] Darrington Sentimore, DE, Tennessee[57] Tharold Simon, CB, LSU[58] Dion Sims, TE, Michigan State[59] Akeem Spence, DT, Illinois[60] Kenny Stills, WR, Oklahoma[30] Levine Toilolo, TE, Stanford[61] Trabis Ward, RB, Tennessee State[62] Spencer Ware, RB, LSU[63] Menelik Watson, OT, Florida State[64] Björn Werner, DE, Florida State[65] Steve Williams, CB, California[66] Marquess Wilson, WR, Washington State[67] Brad Wing, P, LSU[68] Cierre Wood, RB, Notre Dame[69] Robert Woods, WR, USC[70] Tom Wort, LB, Oklahoma[71]
 
You only need to declare if you are in college. That's a college rule, not NFL. NFL rules simply state you have to be 3 years removed from high school graduation. There is no "automatically eligible". Redshirt Juniors are 4 years removed from HS. They are not automatically eligible. They have to officially declare.

In special cases where you leave HS and transfer to a Prep school, you can start your eligibility clock early. After petitioning to the NFL, Larry Fitzgerald was allowed to declare as a True Sophomore because he transferred to a Prep school after his Junior year in HS.

 
"Declaring" for the NFL draft is done by college players...once declared they lose all remaining college eligibility. Why doesn't Joe Shmoe off the street need to "declare" and what do college players have to do to officially "declare".
A guy I went to college with scared the #### out of our basketball coach one day... he called up the office and said "Coach, I want you to know, I've decided to declare for the NBA Draft." Coach panicked: "I gotta say, I think we're doing good things here and next year will be even better and we'd love to have you with us, so maybe we should talk about this some more before you make it official. Uh, wait... who is this?" Buddy: "Joe Schmo. Just letting you know."Coach: "####ing #-hole." :click:
 

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