To be redshirted in college means your participation in your sport is delayed or suspended for a season so that your eligibility lasts longer. A college athlete normally has four seasons of eligibility in a sport; in a redshirt year the athlete attends classes, practises with the team and can suit up, but competes in only a limited number of games, so that season does not count. The result is that the athlete has up to five academic years to use four seasons of play, becoming what is called a fifth-year senior.
The term comes from the red jersey such players commonly wore in practice scrimmages against the regulars. The first athlete known to extend his eligibility this way was Warren Alfson of the University of Nebraska in 1937, who asked to practise but not play and wore an unnumbered red Nebraska shirt.
What Happens in a Redshirt Year
A coach may designate an athlete as a redshirt at the start of the year, but the status is not confirmed until the end of the season and does not make the athlete ineligible in advance. If the athlete shows great talent, or injuries hit the team, the coach can remove the redshirt and let the athlete compete for the rest of the year, which then counts as a season of eligibility.
In Division I football, the rule that took effect with the 2018 season lets a player appear in up to four games in a season without losing the redshirt; since a change adopted shortly after the start of the 2024 season, that four-game limit applies only to regular-season games, so conference championship games, bowl games, the FCS playoffs and the College Football Playoff no longer count against it. Division II football adopted a three-game allowance for first-year players that took effect with the 2023 season.
Why Players Are Redshirted
- Depth chart. Alfson’s original reason still applies: a freshman behind experienced starters can use the year to develop rather than burn a season on the bench.
- Physical development. A year of practice and strength training without competition.
- Academics. Time to adjust to college coursework before adding travel and competition.
- Injury. A season lost to injury can be preserved through a medical hardship waiver, described below.
What Medical, Academic and Grayshirt Redshirts Are
- Medical redshirt. An athlete who loses most of a season to a major injury may be granted a hardship waiver if the injury came while appearing in less than 30% of competitions and the athlete did not play after the midpoint of the season; that season is then treated as not used.
- Academic redshirt. Introduced in 2016, when the NCAA began enforcing stricter admissions standards. A freshman who meets the school’s own admission requirements but not the NCAA requirement of a 2.3 GPA across four years of high school may enter under this status.
- Grayshirt. The athlete attends school as neither a full-time student nor a scholarship recipient, is an unofficial member of the team, and does not practise, play or receive athletic-department aid, for example while recovering from an injury suffered just before college.
Where the Limits on Redshirting Lie
NCAA eligibility must generally be used within six years of enrolling at an NCAA institution, and neither a redshirt nor a medical redshirt can push beyond that window. The NCAA also counts any college sports participation, including at NJCAA, NCCAA, USCAA and NAIA schools, as using a year of NCAA eligibility. Because the NCAA granted an extra year to athletes affected by COVID-19, some athletes competed in a seventh season in 2021-22.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can a redshirt player play in games? In Division I football, in up to four regular-season games without losing the redshirt. In general, competing beyond the allowed limit uses a season of eligibility.
- Does a redshirt keep a scholarship? A redshirt is a full member of the team who practises and attends classes; a grayshirt is the arrangement in which the athlete does not receive athletic-department aid that year.
- Is redshirting only for freshmen? No. Any season can be a redshirt year, subject to the six-year window.
- Why is it called a redshirt? After the red practice jersey worn by such players in scrimmages against the regulars.