Right now there are a few players who were signed by NFL teams that are now attempting to exploit what they see as a loophole and return to play college football. A lot of NFL and college coaches and front office people have been asked about it and many of them have some strong opinions. Most notably Colts GM Chris Ballard who said plainly that he thinks it's the "stupidest s--t I've ever heard".
Tuesday it was Raiders GM John Spytek and assistant GM Brian Stark's turn in front of the media. The subject came up to them. Stark answered first and attempted to be diplomatic about it before backing away from it.
"Yeah, I mean, I can't fault the players for if it's permissible and that's available to them," said Stark. "I haven'treally thought much
about it to be honest with you. We've been pretty busy here the last few weeks, so Ihaven't put too much thought into it. But if it's available to them, if that's an option, it's hard to fault themfor doing it. But that's about all I got on that."
After that it was Spytek's turn and he had the perfect response -- "I'm not giving you any Chris Ballard quotes."
#Raiders GM John Spytek on NFL players going back to play college football:
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 1, 2026
“I’m not giving you any Chris Ballard quotes.” 😂😂 https://t.co/WAEEGF0Rmr pic.twitter.com/arsXv7k7uH
The line drew big laughs from Stark and the room full of media. Spytek was, of course, referring to Ballard's line about how stupid he thinks it is. Ballard went further even, adding "Your entire life, you fight to get up to the NFL. But now we’re gonna go back? OK! That makes a lot of freakin’ sense.”
Spytek wasn't going near that kind of response, even though everything Spytek has ever said about what he values in a player would suggest he probably wouldn't agree with the sentiment Ballard expressed. And that would go right with his decision not to just stay away from it and instead going with a perfectly landed joke.
Some subjects are just the right amount of absurd to deserve jokes and ridicule. This is certainly one of them.
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Raiders GM John Spytek has perfect response to NFLers returning to college ball
