Alberto Mendoza is the name attached to a college sports fight now reaching the US Senate, where lawmakers are due to vote next month on the Protect College Sports Act. The vote comes as Dae’Quan Wright, a rookie undrafted tight end with the Cleveland Browns, has already moved from training camp to the NCAA sports portal and may end up at LSU.
The bill was introduced by Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell, and the timing matters because the system described in the reporting is already sending players toward bigger paydays. Wright’s path is the sharpest example: he was cut by the Cleveland Browns, then entered the NCAA sports portal, and is now likely to play tight end for LSU.
Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell
Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell introduced the Protect College Sports Act to address a system that lets athletes move schools for more money while NCAA caps are bypassed. The reporting says the biggest schools with large budgets like that setup, while cash is being pulled away from academic programs and short-changing Olympic and women’s sports.
Randy Levine, the president of the New York Yankees and vice chair of President Trump’s college sports roundtable, tied Wright’s case to the larger problem. He said, “Just as we predicted, if no legislative action occurred,” and added that Wright’s possible return to college football is only the beginning of continued madness unless legislation gets through the Senate and the House.
Dae’Quan Wright and LSU
Wright’s situation is unusual even by the standards of college sports’ new rules. He was in training camp with the Cleveland Browns, was cut, and then inserted himself into the NCAA sports portal. The reporting says a state court judge in Louisiana said a five-year playing loophole can apply to Wright and other college football players, which is how a player with NFL training camp experience could still be headed back to college.
Lane Kiffin, who coached Wright at Ole Miss, is part of that direct line from the portal to LSU. The reporting says no NFL player has ever returned to college sports until now, which makes Wright the test case lawmakers are watching as the Senate prepares to act on a bill meant to narrow the escape routes around existing limits.
US Senate mid-September
The Senate is slated to vote in mid-September, and the House would also have to act for the Protect College Sports Act to become law. Until then, the reported workaround that could send Wright from the Cleveland Browns toward LSU remains the clearest sign of how quickly the current system can be stretched.
For athletes, programs, and schools chasing money, the immediate question is whether Congress will set a firmer line before more players follow the same path. Wright has already shown how a roster cut, a portal entry, and a five-year loophole can collide in one case.
