Trinidad Chambliss’ hearing for a preliminary injunction, which would allow him to play another season of college football, is on Feb. 12 in Pittsboro, Miss. Chambliss sued the NCAA on Jan. 16 after they denied his waiver request on Jan. 9.
On Monday, Chambliss’ co-counsel William Liston filed a memorandum in support of a motion for preliminary injunction.
The memorandum states: “Trinidad Chambliss and the University of Mississippi were never going to receive fair and good faith consideration of Ole Miss’s request for an additional season of eligibility from the National Collegiate Athletics Association, and that’s exactly what the NCAA intended.”
Chambliss’ lawyers argued that his 2022 season should not be counted against his eligibility because he had chronic tonsillitis and was unable to develop athletically. He played in only two games. Ole Miss filed on Chambliss’ behalf in October and updated his waiver with supporting documents on Nov. 24.
This case was not based on antitrust claims; instead, it was based on a claim of breach of contractual duty of good faith and fair dealing. Ole Miss is arguing that the NCAA acted in bad faith by denying Chambliss’ medical waiver.
“This action arises from the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s bad-faith, unreasonable and arbitrary decision to deny Trinidad Chambliss the opportunity to (compete) in the upcoming 2026-27 college football season at the University of Mississippi,” Chambliss’ attorneys said in their petition for a preliminary and permanent injunctive relief.
The petition details that Chambliss played two seasons with Ferris State in 2023 and 2024, one season with Ole Miss in 2025 and is actually only seeking his fourth and final year of play.
The NCAA claims it did not receive the proper files; those that it did receive indicated Chambliss was healthy in 2022.
“The documents provided by Ole Miss and the students’ prior school include a physician’s note from a December 2022 visit, which stated that the student-athlete was ‘doing very well’ since he was seen in August 2022,” the NCAA said in a statement on X.
Chambliss’ petition states that the NCAA cherry-picked that statement and is misleading. Ole Miss provided 91 pages of medical records, which included a letter from Dr. Anthony Howard, who consulted Chambliss regarding his tonsils.
“Throughout the 2022 football season and into the 2023 athletic year, he (Chambliss) continued to experience recurrent throat infections, poor sleep quality, daytime fatigue and exercise-related airway discomfort,” Dr. Howard said in the letter.
However, the petition by Chambliss’ lawyers said the NCAA’s statement was “false or misleading in multiple respects” and also cited that a member of the NCAA said the letter provided by Dr. Howard sufficiently demonstrated Chambliss’ incapacity during the 2022-23 season.
Chambliss re-signed with Ole Miss on Jan. 5 for $5 million — more than he would earn as a mid-round draft pick.
