Syracuse‘s and Colorado’s athletic departments leaned on athlete health and well-being as the central argument in their unsuccessful bid to secure NCAA approval for a joint football practice and spring game, according to documents obtained by Sportico.
On March 19, Colorado formally requested legislative relief from the NCAA through its Requests/Self-Reports Online (R/SRO) portal. The request specifically sought an exemption from NCAA Bylaw 17, which restricts schools to intra-squad scrimmages or spring games against teams composed of “bona fide alumni or students.” Colorado instead sought permission to scrimmage against another Division I program.
“If this waiver is granted, our institution would be able to follow a similar pattern that has been used at the highest level of football, in which NFL teams engage in joint practice sessions during the pre-season,” wrote Rob Rosner, CU’s associate athletics director for compliance, in his request to the NCAA. “The waiver would intentionally provide an opportunity for our football coaching staff and sports medicine staff to limit the total repetitions for football [athletes] in live scrimmage situations.”
Rosner also referenced a 2019-20 NCAA proposal that would have allowed joint preseason football engagements but was tabled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our institution feels that circumstances in college athletics have drastically changed since the original proposal was put forth in 2019,” Rosner wrote, citing the adoption of the transfer portal windows. “This legislative relief waiver seeks to provide a meaningful opportunity to safeguard the well-being of our football student-athletes, as well as those of our opponent.”
Notably, the formal waiver request took a different approach from the public reasoning put forth by the teams’ head coaches. Colorado’s Deion Sanders, who first floated the idea in a press conference on March 17, framed the proposal as a way to increase competition. Syracuse coach Fran Brown, meanwhile, argued that a joint scrimmage would generate preseason fan interest and “help the game.” He also noted the cultural significance of the proposal, pointing out that both he and Sanders—“an icon”—are African-American.
But in their written appeal, the schools largely avoided competitive or cultural arguments and instead leaned on the endorsements from their sports medicine staffs.
In near-identical letters attached to the waiver request, Colorado’s head athletic trainer Anthony Pass and team physician Sourav Poddar, along with Syracuse’s head football trainer Drew Willson and senior associate athletic director Jon Mitchell, argued that the primary motivation was “the significant medical benefits” a joint-scrimmage would provide. Their letters cited two studies from the Journal of Athletic Training—a 2007 study analyzing injury epidemiology across 15 college sports and a 2022 study examining the concussion rates in spring football.
According to CU’s proposal, outlined in a “staff letter of support” authored by its current director of NIL/revenue sharing, Reginald Calhoun, the three-day “pilot program” from April 17-19 would begin on Day 1 with a home and visiting team practice “followed by fellowship and idea sharing.” Day 2 would entail a joint non-contact practice leading to a full scrimmage on Day 3.
Ultimately, its pitch failed to make it across the scrimmage line; the waiver requests were denied by the Division I FBS oversight committee on Friday. According to The Athletic, the oversight committee’s report cited the potential unfair recruiting advantage that Colorado and Syracuse would. However, the committee did recommend that the concept be reviewed for future seasons, leaving open the possibility of a broader policy change down the line. Meanwhile, Brown is already planning to give it another run with Colorado in spring 2026.
