Redshirt ( college sports ) In United States college athletics , redshirt is a delay or suspension of an athlete ' s participation in order to lengthen his or her period of eligibility . Typically , a student ' s athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons , a number derived from the four years of academic classes that are normally required to obtain a bachelor ' s degree at an American college or university . However , a student athlete may be offered the opportunity to redshirt for up to two years , which allows the athlete to spread those four years of eligibility over five , or sometimes six years . In a redshirt year , a student athlete may attend classes at the college or university , practice with an athletic team , and dress for play but he or she may not compete during the game . Using this mechanism , a student athlete has up to five academic years to use the four years of eligibility , thus becoming a fifth - year senior . The term is used as a verb , noun , and adjective . For example , a coach may choose to redshirt a player who is then referred to as a redshirt freshman or simply a redshirt . The opposite of this is a " true freshman . " Reasons . There are many reasons student athletes might become redshirts . They may redshirt to gain a year of practice with the team prior to participating in competition . In college football , a student athlete may redshirt to add size and strength prior to participating , since size and strength can be assets for many positions in football . As the college years coincide with the typical completion of physical maturity , using a year of eligibility in the last college year is generally more beneficial to the team and to the student athlete ' s potential professional prospects than it is to use the same year of eligibility in the first college year . Players , especially in football , may redshirt to learn the team ' s play book , since college teams typically run a greater number of , and more complex , plays than most high school teams . An athlete may be asked to redshirt if he or she would have no opportunity to play as an academic freshman . This is a common occurrence in many sports where there is already an established starter or too much depth at the position in which the freshman in question is planning to play . A special case involves the eligibility of a player who loses the majority of a season to injury . Popularly known as a medical redshirt , a hardship waiver may be granted an athlete who appears in fewer than 30 % of his or her team ' s competitions ( with none coming after the midway point of the season ) , then suffers a season - ending injury . A player who is granted such a waiver is treated for the purposes of his or her eligibility as though he or she had not competed in that season . On rare occasions , a player may be allowed to play in his or her sixth year of college if he or she suffered a serious injury which kept him or her from playing for more than one season . Former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jason White is perhaps the best known example of this , as he had redshirted his freshman year , then subsequently tore the ACL in both knees , causing him to miss nearly two years of eligible playing time . A more recent example is former Houston Cougars quarterback Case Keenum , now a member of the Houston Texans practice squad . His story is similar to that of White ; Keenum redshirted his freshman year of 2006 , and then tore an ACL three games into the 2010 season , which would have otherwise been his final year of eligibility . The term redshirt freshman indicates an academic sophomore ( second - year student ) who is in his first season of athletic eligibility . A redshirt freshman is distinguished from a true freshman ( first - year student ) as one who has practiced with the team for the prior season . The term redshirt sophomore is also commonly used to indicate an academic junior ( third - year student ) who is in the second season of athletic eligibility . After the sophomore year , the term redshirt is rarely used , in favor of fourth - year junior and fifth - year senior . Athletes may also utilize a " grayshirt " year in which they attend school , but cannot enroll as a full - time student , and do not receive a scholarship for that year . This means that they are an unofficial member of the team and do not participate in practices , games , or receive financial assistance from their athletic department . Typically , grayshirts are players who are injured right before college and require an entire year to recuperate . Rather than waste his or her redshirt , the player can attend school as a part - time regular student and then join the team later . This is also utilized by players with religious or military obligations that keep them out of school for a full academic year . Use of status . While the redshirt status may be conferred by a coach at the beginning of the year , it is not confirmed until the end of the season , and more specifically , it does not rule a player ineligible in advance to participate in the season . If a player shows great talent , or there are injuries on the team , the coach may remove the redshirt status and allow the player to participate in competition for the remainder of the year . The first athlete known to extend his eligibility in the modern era of redshirting was Warren Alfson of the University of Nebraska in 1937 . Alfson requested that he be allowed to sit out his sophomore season due to the number of experienced players ahead of him . In addition , he had not started college until several years after graduating from high school , and thus felt he needed more preparation . The year off worked ; Alfson was All - Big Six Conference in 1939 and an All - American guard in 1940 . Etymology . According to " Webster ' s Third New International Dictionary , Unabridged " , the term " redshirt " comes from the red jersey commonly worn by such a player in practice scrimmage s against the regulars .