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What does "red shirt" mean in college sports?

I hear college announcers say so-and-so is a "red shirt" freshmen. What does that mean?

16 Answers

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    A redshirt athlete is someone who was held from competition for a year, but did not lose a year of eligibility. During his redshirt year, an athlete can practice with the team but not compete in games. A coach may want to redshirt an athlete if he determines he won't be playing much that year but will be valuable later with a little seasoning. Or, you can get a medical redshirt ... in other words, if you get hurt before the season (or early in the season), a coach can redshirt you, so you'll sit out a year, but you won't lose a year of eligibility. Also, you can be redshirted in any year, but generally you can be redshirted only once (unless extreme medical circumstances apply).

    So, if a freshman is redshirted, he will sit out his first year on campus. The next year, he will be a sophomore academically, but athletically he will be considered a freshman, and he still will have four years of athletic eligibility left. When a redshirt player reaches his fifth academic year (fourth and final athletic year), he still needs to be at the school in some way to keep competing ... either still working on his bachelor's degree or taking graduate courses.

    If you see a player who is on the field, and the TV announcer calls him a redshirt freshman, that means he served his redshirt year last year and is eligible to play this year.

  • 1 decade ago

    When they call a player a "red-shirt" it means that they have been on the team, but never played in a game for one of a few reasons. First the coach may not feel like the player is ready to play are that level and may need one more year to get up to that level. Second the player might have had medical problems that kept him from playing. And finally the coach might have a top notch recruit at a position but has a great player there, so he gives him a "red shirt."

    But to be blunt the "red-shirt" means that that player have been part of the team but not played in a game, but does not lose a year of NCAA eligibility, allowing them to have all four years of eligibility.

  • 1 decade ago

    It used to mean that if an underclassman became injured they would "red-shirt" him, which means he couldn't take part in any contact or dress for games. This gave them a chance to save a years eligibility. So when a player is called a "red-shirt freshman" he is actually academically a sophomore. You may want to know it was only back in the early 70's that freshman were even eligible to play varsity college football.

  • 1 decade ago

    NCAA (college athletic governing board) only allows collegiate athletes so many years of eligibility, so sometimes a player will "red-shirt" and not play (there are only so many positions on any team) which allows the player to practice with the team, and still not use up the year of eligibility.

    For example, player QB year 1 freshman joins the team, but the team already has player QB year 4 senior. Without red shirting, the player would then only be able to play the sophomore, junior, and senior years, allowing only 3 years of play. Well if the player QB year 1 freshman decides to "red-shirt" (not play and just sit on the sidelines, which he would do anyway) he still gets 4 more years of eligibility to be able to play.

    Source(s): sports geek
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  • radel
    Lv 4
    4 years ago

    Redshirt Freshman

  • 1 decade ago

    It means that you didn't participate in any games in your true freshman year of college. In your second year of college, you would be a sophomore as far as school work is concerned, but would be a red shirt freshman as far as your athletic eligibility. This allows you to attend class for five years and participate in the games your last four years.

  • Rasta
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago

    Redshirt is a term used in American college athletics. Typically, a student-athlete has four years of eligibility in a given sport, to coincide with the standard four-year calendar for obtaining a bachelor's degree. For various reasons, some student-athletes opt to not compete with the team for one of their four years attending a university but to only attend classes and practices with the team; this process is known as redshirting. The student-athlete does not use one of his or her four years of eligibility in that season. Using this mechanism, a student-athlete has up to five academic years to use the four years of eligibility, thus creating the phenomenon of "Fifth Year Seniors". However, each student-athlete has at most four years of actual competition with the varsity team.

  • 6 years ago

    can a college be a red shirt and a team manager at the same time. What are the rules of this

  • 1 decade ago

    A red shirt sits out his/her "freshman year," and still has four years of eligibility, so the next year he/she is referred to as a redshirt freshman. It is used so the player can learn the system that is used and get prepared to play.

  • delk
    Lv 4
    5 years ago

    What Does Redshirt Mean

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