Earlier this year, safety Kenny Robinson found himself in a predicament familiar to college football players over the years.
Robinson had been dismissed from West Virginia due to a code of conduct violation involving academic fraud and was not in school long enough to gain eligibility for the NFL’s Supplemental Draft this summer. Most players in that position find themselves looking for a place to transfer in order to continue their collegiate career, but Robinson is taking a different route.
Robinson opted to pursue a spot in the XFL and PFT has confirmed that he’s part of the upstart league’s pool of eligible draftees next week. He’s the only player with college eligibility remaining in that group.
Robinson was considered a likely draft choice based on his play last season and will still be eligible to be drafted by an NFL team next year. He told Andy Staples of TheAthletic.com that he thinks that playing against professional competition can raise his draft stock.
“Now they can see how I hold up mentally and physically,” Robinson said. “They’ll see me playing against guys who have actually been in the NFL and done it.”
Should things work out well for Robinson, the XFL could find other players viewing it as a viable alternative to getting to the NFL whether they have run afoul or the rules or simply want to put an end to their college days.