The legal event everyone knew was coming since the day after the Fiesta Bowl arrived on Friday, January 16th.
Trinidad Chambliss, via attorney William Liston, filed a petition for an injunction to allow him to play football for Ole Miss in the 2026 season after the NCAA denied his wavier request for a final year of eligibility.
As with any case, there are layers and nuance that the usual suspect idiots will ignore because they’re lazy, but for those who want to dig into the details, it requires time.
Since everyone has things to do, I’ll attempt to break down this petition and case layer by layer so you don’t have to spend hours that aren’t billable to understand everything.
I did something similar for the Jerrell Powe alleged kidnapping saga. As I noted in that post and it still applies, my legal training is Lionel Hutz, the Phil Hartman-voiced lawyer on The Simpsons, when he told Marge that she was in luck with her case because “I was watching Matlock in a bar last night. The sound wasn’t on, but I got the gist of it.”
So keep that in mind if I unintentionally stray into legal analysis.
How did we get here?
Chambliss enrolled at Ferris State (his school prior to Ole Miss) in the fall of 2021. That means he’s been in college for 5 fall seasons (‘21, ‘22, ‘23, ‘24, and ‘25).
However, he didn’t play in 2021 and 2022 due to what he says were medical reasons. As a result, he believes he should be granted an additional year of eligibility for the 2026 season because it would be his 4th and final season to actually play in college football games (‘23, ‘24, ‘25, and ‘26).
Ole Miss, on Chambliss’ behalf, took this argument to the NCAA in October of 2025 and asked for an eligibility waiver. The NCAA, a chill organization filled with fun people who like cool things, denied the waiver because they claim there wasn’t enough documentation to back up Chambliss’ claim of the medical issues preventing him from playing in ‘21 and ‘22.
It took the NCAA almost a month and a half to reach that conclusion and rendered judgment the day after Ole Miss lost the Fiesta Bowl to Miami. Making it even more grotesque, the NCAA posted its decision on Twitter (X) WHILE ON A CALL WITH OLE MISS COMPLIANCE (page 19).
That means, after waiting a month and a half for a decision, Chambliss found out when everyone else did. Elite “eat some more shit, peasants,” which is on brand.
In response to the waiver denial, Ole Miss filed an appeal, which escalates the final waiver decision to a committee of more important people at the NCAA than those who initially denied the waiver. Allegedly, these more important people could issue decision in the next few weeks, but that would be out of character for those professional draggers of feet.
Instead of waiting for the inevitable second denial from the NCAA, Chambliss and his lawyers chose to take matters to the legal system in an effort potentially speed up the process of him being allowed to resume activities as a member of the 2026 Ole Miss football team.
What’s Chambliss’ argument in the petition?
It’s mostly what he argued in his waiver request to the NCAA with TRIAL LAWYA additions of note. He’s only played 3 seasons due to medical hardships and wants a 4th, which he says should be granted according to NCAA bylaws.
Ole Miss presented evidence to back up Chambliss’ medical hardship claims, as required by the NCAA. After receiving the evidence that “satisfies all the requirements” for a waiver, the NCAA denied the waiver through a combination of making stuff up, doing what they want, being lazy, and acting like antagonistic assholes.
The petition says the NCAA, in denying the waiver, “breached its duty of acting in good faith and fair dealing” owed to Chambliss as a third-party beneficiary of the contract between Ole Miss and the NCAA, as well as Ferris State and the NCAA. It notes that a breach of good faith is when a party violates “standards of decency, fairness, or reasonableness.” Well, now, that doesn’t sound like the NCAA!
Are there examples of this breach?
There are! The petition alleges 14 instances of the NCAA breaching its duty:
- Claimed 91 pages of supplied documentation related to Chambliss’ medical issues were “non-contemporaneous” (more on this in a minute!)
- Refused to apply the waiver criteria according to their own policies (i.e., making stuff up)
- Did not attempt to understand the seriousness of Chambliss’ medical condition or investigate documentation of it (i.e., lazy)
- Ignoring letters that would’ve satisfied the waiver criteria (i.e., doing what they want)
- Failed to interpret evidence in compliance with their student-first policies (i.e., more doing what they want)
- Ignoring D-I and D-II bylaws that say practices and scrimmages don’t count in terms of eligibility years (i.e., lazy and more doing what they want)
- Thinking it’s unfair to other athletes that Chambliss could have a 4th year of getting to play (i.e., what?)
- Applying the waiver rule in a manner that was “antagonistic rather than cooperative” (i.e., intentionally being assholes)
- Failing to “fairly and reasonably” apply evidence required by the waiver rule (i.e., more of doing what they want)
- Presenting no evidence that contradicts or disputes the evidence Ole Miss presented (i.e., lazy and more of doing what they want)
- Failed to understand Chambliss’ medical conditions were beyond his control (i.e., lazy and assholes)
- Failed to obtain analysis from a medical expert when they disagreed with Chambliss’ doctor (i.e., lazy and more of doing what they want)
- Issued false and misleading public statements about Ole Miss’ request for a waiver (i.e., assholes and more of doing what they want)
- Engaged in “unfair, unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious processing and adjudicating” of the waiver request (i.e., lazy and more of doing what they want)
Obviously, these are all written with a SOMEWHAT favorable angle to Chambliss’ case, but shout-out to William Liston for dialing up the Jackie Chiles on that last example.
What will this breach of duty cost Chambliss?
In short, not being able to play football and cash money. As you may recall, Chambliss and Ole Miss reached an agreement prior to the Fiesta Bowl that would pay him somewhere north of $5 million for the 2026 season.
According to the petition, without an injunction granting him relief, Chambliss will lose:
- A 4th year of playing in college football games, which is contrary to NCAA bylaws
- Monetary losses in the millions of dollars (even if he is drafted)
The petition also goes on to note how the public (especially Oxford and the state of Mississippi) has an interest in Chambliss being allowed to play, as his presence makes Ole Miss a better football team and serves as an “economic driver” for all.
So what’s the NCAA’s deal?
You mean other than being generally miserable and making stuff up as they go because they know they’ll never be held accountable for it?
Yes, what’s their deal in this case?
The main reason they denied Chambliss’ waiver request is they claimed there was a “lack of contemporaneous medical documentation.” In other words, medical records/notes/letters from ‘21 and ‘22 that would verify Chambliss’ claim of medical hardship.
The petition states the NCAA was provided with 91 pages of said documentation, but they chose to outright lie about certain documents not being provided and pick portions of documents that backed their pre-determined outcome of denial.
For example, they cite a doctor’s note from December of 2022 where Chambliss was “doing very well” since his visit in August, but they chose to ignore that the doctor, in the same note, also said Chambliss had issues with his tonsils.
The petition goes on to define the word “contemporaneous” for the NCAA since they, unlike the rest of the free world, think it means something other than “happening or existing at the same period of time.” They apparently think it means “simultaneous,” which the petition notes would put an unreasonable burden on anyone to produce medical records on a specific date the NCAA selects.
Well, they kinda seem like jerks.
Correct! Though, to be fair, let me remind you the petition is written as favorably as possible to Chambliss’ case. But even if you take out some of the TRIAL LAWYA massaging of the language, it only reduces their jerk level by maybe 10 percent.
So what are Chambliss’ chances of getting the injunction?
Better than winning his appeal with the NCAA!
The biggest distinction between Chambliss’ case and eligibility cases the NCAA has won is that he filed his petition in Lafayette County, Mississippi chancery court and not federal court.
The distinction is important because, just last week, the NCAA won an eligibility case in federal court and has won more than half its federal court eligibility cases. In last week’s case, the plaintiffs said the limitations on eligibility violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, which the judge disagreed with.
By staying in state court, he avoids antitrust language and makes it about a party in Mississippi suffering irreparable harm and the right to stack that paper. And all of that is the result of the NCAA breaching its duty of good faith and fair dealing owed to him, based on their bylaws.
Friend of the program @VegasRebs, an actual lawyer, has a highly informative thread on what Chambliss has to show to get the injunction, and why it’s likely it will be granted:
In short, based on Mississippi law, Chambliss has a strong case, and the NCAA will not have a lot of good answers for the judge, who you may have heard has a degree from Delta State and went to Ole Miss law school.
He’s not going to agree with everything in the petition, but he will have little patience for guardians of the game dipshittery.
When will the case be decided?
More than likely, not any time soon, which is what Ole Miss and Chambliss want. All they need is for the case to run beyond the 2026 season.
What happens after that doesn’t matter. The season will be over, and Chambliss will have used the final year of eligibility he’s seeking.
The judicial system already moves at a glacial-ish pace, but throw in some TRIAL LAWYA tactics, and this thing may still be going while LSU is looking for a new coach in 2029.
HEY-OOOHHHHHH.
That means Chambliss is a lock to be Ole Miss’ starting quarterback in 2026, yes?
OH, GRASSHOPPER.
There are no locks with Ole Miss, but he is the betting favorite.
Are people outside of Ole Miss gonna be mad about the injunction and Chambliss starting?
I don’t know what the current diaper production volume in the United States is, but it’s not enough to handle the impending demand. Filled diapers and ruptured blood vessels in the eyes everywhere.
