Doesn’t the COVID year automatically give you an extra year?
So, even if he plays two more traditional years, he still is eligible for one more season because of the COVID year?
So confused.
The COVID year could technically give you a sixth year, but only if you have already used a redshirt. The plan of it all was not to have any player lose a year of eligibility, so the "five years to play four" still holds up. In the long run, it may not have been the best decision, but then again, some conferences only played half a schedule.
In Card's case, his redshirt year was his COVID year, so that year is wiped entirely off the books. It is easier to just say that in 2021, Card was a true freshman would didn't redshirt. So, he's a true sophomore that still has his redshirt eligible if he needs it.
When looking at eligibility, everyone needs to look at the COVID year and say that it never happened. No years exhausted.