Tommy Tuberville, a Republican senator from Alabama, sent a memo to his Republican legislative directors on Tuesday that urged GOP senators to oppose the Protect College Sports Act in favor of a narrower bill.
The former Ole Miss and Auburn head football coach who’s now immersed in the political field would prefer a bill that only regulates collegiate eligibility of 5 years and transfers, which would signify a 1-time exception. According to a social media post from Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, Tuberville believes his alternative proposal “restores enforcement.”
Just a few weeks ago, Alabama and Auburn issued a joint statement that urged politicians on both sides of the aisle to reject the current form of the Protect College Sports Act.
Lawmakers are currently considering the bill as Congress tries to find a way to stabilize college sports. But Alabama and Auburn both stepped out earlier this month and called on those lawmakers to reconsider the bill in its current form, and now Tuberville reiterated those concerns in his memo to Republican colleagues on Tuesday.
Those leaders at Alabama and Auburn were voicing their concerns about what the bill would do to college athletics going forward.
This isn’t Tuberville’s first sign of concern about the bill. Last month, in a speech on the U.S. Senator floor, the 71-year-old Tuberville also spoke out about the Protect College Sports Act, saying in the more than 15-minute speech that the bill “goes too far” while he motioned for unanimous consent to pass his own bill, called the Student-Athlete Act.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
