The NFL wouldn’t exist without college football—it serves as the league’s primary talent pipeline. Yet, despite this connection, the two operate under entirely different structures.
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The NFL tightly regulates its professional league, enforcing standardized rules and strict penalties for violations. In contrast, college football operates as a loosely connected system of conferences under the NCAA, lacking uniformity across the board.
According to Laura Rutledge, this fundamental difference is why the NFL largely distances itself from college football—until the draft season and the Combine roll around.
“The NFL doesn’t have a ton of interest in being that associated with college football until the Combine comes around. You even see when they schedule games. They’re like college football playoffs are on, we don’t care. We’re gonna have some of our playoff games. The NFL knows it’s the king.”
However, the college landscape is changing with the coming of NIL as it transitions from an amateur setting to a much more professional setting. But Laura still believes there is a long way to go and until then the league will continue to treat colleges with indifference like they do now and not an extension of the league.
According to her, the NFL will continue to show interest in college football but will keep its distance until the NCAA establishes more structure and uniformity. Unlike MLB with its Minor League system or the NBA with the G-League, the NFL has no interest in directly overseeing talent development or treating college programs as feeder teams.
That said, the NFL should consider scheduling games with college football in mind, recognizing that many of its fans are just as invested in the college game—sometimes even more so, as college matchups often deliver greater competition and excitement.
Investing in college football could also benefit the league by strengthening its talent pipeline, especially with the rise of NIL deals. Franchises could fund NIL programs and play a more active role in player development, particularly at smaller colleges and across different divisions.
This would give the NFL access to a deeper talent pool and more star power, allowing teams to evaluate prospects long before the Combine. What do you think? Should the league continue to maintain its distance or is it time it start associating more deeply with its junior?
