As NBA players started taking advantage of leftover eligibility and returning to college, a few people wondered if the world would see athletes in other sports jump at the opportunity.
Well, in football at least, it isn't quite as easy, with players forgoing the rest of their eligibility in order to enter the NFL Draft.
However, former Texas Longhorns wide receiver Collin Johnson, who played for the Horns in the late 2010s, isn't letting that stop him from going back to school... for a graduate degree from MIT that is.
Former Texas WR Collin Johnson heads to MIT
This week, ESPN Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported that Johnson had announced his retirement from the NFL and simultaneously announced his plan to head to MIT Sloan to work toward his MBA.
While at Texas, Johnson became a star, earning a resounding 2,624 receiving yards for 15 touchdowns, even recording a defensive pass deflection on the opposite side of the ball.
After four seasons with the Horns, he was a fifth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, going to the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he spent just one season. He then headed to the New York Giants for his second year in the league.
He finished his professional career with two years for the Chicago Bears. Over his four-year career, he earned 394 receiving yards and two touchdowns. In 2025, he signed with the Las Vegas Raiders, but didn't record a single stat for his fourth team.
After tearing his Achilles tendon in 2022, he could never quite find the speed necessary to become a star in the NFL, but he will always be a Longhorn Legend. Now, he'll be an MIT Master's in Business Administration to tack onto his resume.
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