CLEMSON — Well, look at here. LSU will likely have a new offensive weapon, and it comes courtesy of another judge undermining an NCAA ruling.

And we wonder why college football and college athletics in general are so messed up?

Former Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quan Wright is likely to become the first football player in history to go from the NFL back to college, if he clears waivers after being waived by the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. Wright, who signed with the Browns as an undrafted free agent on Aug. 10, has an agreement in place for the 2026 season to play for LSU, per agents Drew Rosenhaus and Kyle Lincoln, if he was waived and not picked up by another NFL team.

Last year, Wright earned All-SEC honors after hauling in 39 passes for 635 yards and five TDs for the Rebels.

LSU was granted the opportunity to get this all-conference player thanks to…wait for it…a “Louisiana” judge, who granted Wright and 15 others last Thursday a temporary restraining order to return to college football, as well as the right to enter the transfer portal, though some are currently on NFL rosters.

The group of former college football players filed their lawsuit against the NCAA in the state of Louisiana.

How convenient this was for LSU, right? I am sure this was the plan all along for Lane Kiffin and the Bayou Bengals.

No one is ever going to accuse Kiffin of doing what is in the best interest of his players and college football.

In fairness to Kiffin and others like him, the name of the game in college football right now is all about the “greenbacks” and winning, of course. It used to be, “If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.” Now it is more, “If you’re not paying, you’re losing.”

And we all know LSU can pay. And we all known LSU will do whatever it takes to win, even if it takes the roster spot of another player to make room for Wright to join.

LSU will do whatever it takes to win, even though its own conference commissioner—the SEC’s Greg Sankey—said, allowing athletes who have signed professional contracts back into college sports “fuels disruption” and should not be allowed.

The SEC also has a rule in place that prohibits athletes from transferring within the conference when it is not their sports transfer portal window. Commissioner Greg Sankey recently sent out a memo to all member schools reminding them of the rule. The transfer portal window for college football opens on Jan. 4.

This is what college athletics, in particular college football, has become.

Maybe I was naïve? Maybe major college athletics has never been about the athletes getting a free opportunity at an education? Maybe it was always been about the money?

Maybe I just did not see it for what it was all this time? Maybe I, and all of us fans of college athletics, were living in a fantasy world this whole time?

I hope that was not the case, because what college athletics is turning into is something I am not sure I want to watch much more of in the future. I think I am not the only one who feels this way.

Or maybe, I am just too naïve.