One of the fundamental facts about going to college in America used to be that college lasts four years. And though that timeline had been flexible when it comes to sports, there was never much debate over the notion that once a player moved on to the pros their days as a college athlete were over. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.

A recent rule passed by the NCAA has resulted in confusion, lawsuits and the once-unthinkable notion of players leaving college, signing with professional teams and now leaving those teams to head back to college.

Among this week’s headline grabbers are Dae’Quan Wright, an undrafted tight end out of Ole Miss who had tryouts with the Eagles and Browns over the summer, but now has a deal in place to play this season at Ole Miss’ rival in the Southeastern Conference, No. 11 LSU.

Wright is among a number of college athletes who have sued for the right to return to college to play as the start of both the college football and NFL seasons approach. A quick look at how we got here:

This part happened in June, and by the NCAA’s plodding standards, it happened quite fast. The rule now allows athletes to play five seasons over the span of five years. Most college athletes now see the “clock” start on their eligibility either when they enroll full-time in college or at the start of the regular school year immediately following their 19th birthday, whichever comes first.

The rule itself isn’t all that outlandish. A lot of players were taking redshirt years (and getting extensions due to the pandemic) to prolong their eligibility to five, six, seven years and more, so putting some guardrails around it made some sense.

But the NCAA’s decision to start applying this new rule to athletes who graduated high school in 2023 is what caused the chaos. By not including those from the Class of ’22, many of whom saw their fourth and final year of eligibility end after last school year, they opened themselves up to trouble.

The members of the Class of ‘22 are arguing they’re being deprived of education and potential NIL financial benefits by being excluded from the rule.

Meanwhile, college athletes are suddenly looking at unexpected competition for roster spots and playing time coming from a class of players they thought would be gone this season. And teams, most of which have locked in their football rosters, are seeing a potential influx of talent they didn’t expect.