Petard, hoisted

Looks like LSU will have former Cleveland Browns tight end Dae'Quan Wright on its roster after all, thanks to a Louisiana judge who ruled it was OK for pros to come back to college, especially if it's LSU.

Despite what you may have heard, said judge was NOT wearing a Billy Cannon LSU throwback under his robes when he handed down his ruling. That is a vicious lie.

Nonetheless, Judge Geaux Tigers said it's perfectly OK for LSU to add former NFL players to its roster, hell as many as you want, son. That threw everyone into a tizzy including Clemson coach Dabo "Back In My Day" Swinney, who makes $10.7 million a year but has never liked the idea of his players gettin' theirs.

"It's embarrassing," Dabo said this week, in advance of Clemson's big showdown with LSU Saturday night. "I mean, it really is. We have no rules. There's no governance. I mean, it's a joke ... Never did I think we'd be living in an era like this, but that's where we are."

Dabo, and Clemson, were so appalled at LSU coach Lane Kiffin adding former NFL players to his roster they reportedly considered boycotting tomorrow night's game. That they didn't tells you everything you need to know about where the college game is today, and just how hoist it is by its own petard.

ESPN, see, is broadcasting Clemson-LSU on its anchor platform, and  it's bringing the A-list to do it: Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe 'n' them. So the game's on the big stage, in prime time, which means mega-exposure. Which in turn means every four-and-five-star recruit will be tuning in.

You think Clemson's gonna pass on that?

You think it doesn't want to showcase players such as starting quarterback Christopher Vizzina, a senior who's done his time and now gets his big shot?

Know how much Clemson will be paying Christopher Vizzina this season in NIL dollars?

Right around $1 million.

Think that won't be a selling point for Clemson when it goes after those four-and-five-stars? And think it doesn't make all the hand-wringing about pros on college rosters a trifle silly?

Because, like Christopher Vizzina, there are players on every major-college roster in America right now pulling down major NIL coin. In other words, they're ALREADY pros. So what's the difference between a kid with an NIL deal coming to LSU from, say, Oklahoma, versus a kid with a free agent deal coming to LSU from Cleveland? 

Or maybe you think Clemson's indirectly paying Vizzina for sitting in the front row in chemistry class.

Yeah. Didn't think so.