What does redshirt freshman mean in football? 

Today we are explaining the term redshirt in American college sports. To do that, we need to start by explaining a bit about the US's educational system. American bachelor's degrees are four-year programs and every year has a specific name attached to it. First-year students are known as freshmen, second-year students are known as sophomores, third year as juniors and last-year students are seniors.

Initially, this meant that student-athletes' collegiate careers have a four-year length. Many students shorten their careers if their stock is high enough to be drafted for the NFL and leave before finishing their degrees.

But for a long time now, some players have preferred to lengthen their collegiate career to better prepare for professional sports. The best way to extend the length of a college career is to red shirt.

Redshirting is a process by which a student-athlete decides to forgo full participation in one season of their four-year careers, thus becoming eligible for a fifth season of college sports. The process is usually done by first-year students with little to no chance to feature in their freshman year for the team, hence the term redshirt freshman.

During their redshirt year, players might still play games but in a limited fashion. In the case of football, the NCAA allows redshirts to feature in four games during the season.

Where does the term redshirt come from?

The practice was initiated back in 1937 by the University of Nebraska, where linebacker Warren Alfson asked the school's training staff to participate in practice but not play. During training, he wore a red shirt to distinguish himself from the other players, and this is where the term redshirt stems from.

Alfson benefited greatly from the extra time, earning All-Big Six Conference and All-American honors in 1939 and 1940, respectively.

Notre Dame NC State Football

The rise of ever-longer collegiate careers

In principle, players have five years to play college sports. Four regular years, plus their redshirt year. But the time limit to a college career has become murkier, with a series of eligibility extensions rising in the form of waivers. The most common one is an injury waiver, for players who have lost a season due to injuries. There's also been a waiver for players affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

A famous example is Notre Dame's quarterback Sam Hartman who is in his sixth season as a student-athlete. Hartman redshirted in his sophomore year with Wake Forest and didn't lose a year of eligibility in 2020 due to COVID-19. For this season he transferred to Wake Forest for a sixth and final year.