I know he plans to petition for one (provided he doesn't blow up this year and enter the draft), and several other players have gotten them for various injuries over the year

I'm just wondering if anyone "in the know" on these matter could give some kind of estimate as to the NCAA's chances of give him that extra year

6/26/2009 12:06:42 PM

I think Chris Colmer was here for nine years

6/26/2009 12:09:23 PM

I'm not "in the know" by any stretch, but based on precedent, Baker should be an absolute lock if he decides to go for it.

6/26/2009 12:14:20 PM

No he won't.

Hardship waivers are only offered if there was a drastic effect the athlete's ability to complete college in 5 years.

Colmer was here for 7 years because his disease pulled him out of college.

6/26/2009 12:29:30 PM

I don't think it has as much to with your ability to complete college ( as in the college course load) than it does your ability to compete in 4 our of those 5 years.

Jeff Byars just got a sixth year and he was just injured; no illness to speak of

But what do I know...thats why I made the thread

[Edited on June 26, 2009 at 12:39 PM. Reason : x]

6/26/2009 12:38:42 PM

Dwayne Herndon looked like he was here for 30 years

6/26/2009 12:50:35 PM

what's toney's situation? gopack.com seems to be not very up to date.

he played the first two years, blew out his knee and redshirted, then got hurt again last year for his RS JR year, and now is a SR right?


I don't know for sure, but if his first redshirt was "medical" than you usually don't get another one. Since he played that year, I don't know how they could have used his regular redshirt, which usually would allow you to take another medical one later.

6/26/2009 1:10:26 PM

Scott Kooistra got two medical redshirts IIRC, I think he injured both knees. Or maybe the same knee twice but I think it was both.

6/26/2009 2:32:01 PM

Colmer had dat 190% Parsonage Turner syndrome btw

6/26/2009 2:36:29 PM

Quote :

"I don't know for sure, but if his first redshirt was "medical" than you usually don't get another one. Since he played that year, I don't know how they could have used his regular redshirt, which usually would allow you to take another medical one later."

Just to clarify a couple of terms:

Redshirt - regular old redshirt. A player has 5 years of eligibility, 4 years of which he can engage in competition. The extra year is called the redshirt year. Playing a single play in a single game counts as a year of eligibility. The only exception is the medical hardship:

Medical Hardship Waiver - A hardship waiver can be applied to a player who has played in a limited number of competitions but suffered a season ending injury. The player is limited to competing in 3 competitions or 30% of the regularly scheduled season (whichever is greater - 4 games in the case of football), and all of those games must occur within the first half of the season. If a player meets these criteria, he may request a medical hardship waiver, which waives the fact that he played and counts that year as his redshirt year.


In the case of Toney Baker, he played about 15-20 snaps of one game in 2007 before being injured. He applied for a hardship waiver, it was granted, and he redshirted the year. He was still injured in 2008 and had to miss that season (his RS-JR season). Last season did not count as a redshirt or a medical redshirt or anything. He was just burning his eligibility while he was sitting in the training room. He is back this year as a RS-SR, and this will be his last year unless he gets a 6th year waiver.


6th year waivers are a bit less concrete than medical hardships. The wording in the rule book is:

Quote :

"A waiver of the five-year period of eligibility is designed to provide a student-athlete with the opportunity to participate in four seasons of intercollegiate competition within a five-year period. This waiver may be granted, based upon objective evidence, for reasons that are beyond the control of the student athlete or the institution, which deprive the student-athlete of the opportunity to participate for more than one season in his/her sport within the five-year period. The Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement reserves the right to review requests that do not meet the more-than-one-year criteria detailed in this bylaw for circumstances of extraordinary or extreme hardship."

Circumstances beyond the player's control include, but are not limited to: injury, injury or death of immediate family member, family declaring bankruptcy, or bad academic advice on the part of the university.
Circumstances not beyond the player's control: bad grades, transferring schools, and regular redshirt years.

Baker has undeniably been deprived of the opportunity to compete in more than one season of football due to this injury, which is defined as a circumstance beyond his control. Even though he got in those first 15-20 snaps of the first game, I think he still fits the bill for a 6th year.

The last sentence of that quote is what Colmer used for his 6th year. He took a regular redshirt as a true freshman, which would normally knock you out of the running for a 6th year (because that's defined as a circumstance within the player's control). However, the review committee decided that his Parsonage-Turner Syndrome was extraordinary or extreme enough to grant him the 6th year.

6/26/2009 3:54:11 PM

^ nice info. Thanks

6/26/2009 4:05:59 PM