FSU’s Glauser To Sue NCAA for Final Season of Eligibility
Daniel Glauser, a former member of the Florida State football team, is planning to sue the NCAA for his final season of eligibility. Glauser lost that season under the old version of the delayed enrollment rule that initially tripped up Steven Rhodes, although Glauser’s argument for relief was not nearly as strong:
Glauser was denied a fourth year of eligibility as a result of playing in two club football games in Switzerland as a 21-year-old.
The 6–5 offensive tackle paid the equivalent of $600 to participate in the club league, but the NCAA considers participating in those two games to be the equivalent of participating in one year’s worth of collegiate athletics.
This is closer to the type of activity that the delayed enrollment rule targets, although it sounds like the league was not nearly as competitive as any level of college football and Glauser’s participation was pretty minimal.
None the less, Glauser has an uphill battle because of the long-standing precedent that athletes do not have a property right in their eligibility and thus are entitled to only minimal due process before their eligibility is taken. Even a property right in his scholarship, which Glauser still has, is debatable, with some courts treating it as a contract while others see it as a gift.