Vanderbilt LB, Ex-Hawaii QB Among College Athletes Suing NCAA Over Redshirt Rule

Vanderbilt linebacker Langston Patterson and former Hawaii quarterback Brayden Schager are among 10 plaintiffs suing the NCAA over its redshirt rule that puts restrictions on the five years the athletes have to practice, play and graduate from college.

The class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee alleges the NCAA violates U.S. antitrust laws with how its redshirt rule covers playing time for athletes during five seasons of eligibility. The lawsuit includes seven other named plaintiffs and potentially thousands of current and former NCAA football, baseball and tennis players.

"We are not challenging the NCAA’s rule limiting players to five years of eligibility to play college sports or the concept of a defined eligibility period generally," co-lead attorney Ryan Downton of the Texas Trial Group said in a statement.

"But the NCAA has no basis to prohibit a player who is working just as hard as all of his teammates in practice, in the weight room, and in the classroom, from stepping on the field (or court) to compete against another school in one of those seasons."

The NCAA said in a statement that it stands by its eligibility rules.

"The NCAA is making changes to modernize college sports but attempts to dismantle widely supported academic requirements can only be addressed by partnering with Congress," the organization said in a statement.

Downton was one of the attorneys who represented Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia when he won a preliminary injunction last December in his lawsuit that is being appealed by the NCAA. Pavia is in his sixth collegiate season and helped the Commodores to a season-opening win last week.

This class-action lawsuit was filed in the same