Here my thing about underclassmen and high school players looking to skip college. Consider a few scenarios:
5 star kid spurns college and goes straight to the XFL. Gets paid some money while he works hard to make it to the NFL one day for a big pay day. Good for him right? But what happens the next season when ratings are down and the XFL folds? This kid took money and has an agent, and now he's ineligible for the NCAA and can't play in the NFL for a year or two. What does he do now?
Or, the same 5 star kid, HS or college drop out, takes the money for the XFL, hoping to make it to the NFL in a few years. Gets the money, parties, gets a DUI, and is kicked out of the league according to the rules Vince just sited. He better hope that money holds out until he hopefully gets a combine invite.
Here's another one. HS kid is all world in HS. Goes to the XFL, playing against 26 year old men. Because he's an undeveloped 18 year old, he struggles and gets cut from the already small 40 man roster. He might have been an NFL draft pick if he developed for a few years in college. We'll never know. Same issue if this underdeveloped kid gets hurt his first game in the XFL. Could he have made it if he played against college talent for a few years?
I would hope most HS talents would hold out a year or two to make sure the XFL is around for at least a while, but you know some kids wont.
Nailed it. Nobody should be skipping college for this until it is an established league. To start, it will need to be NFL and NCAA castoffs, not a development league for those who don't want to go to college.