Colorado DL Ezra Christensen's eligibility battle heads to court

Colorado defensive lineman Ezra Christensen has taken his eligibility fight to court after the NCAA canceled his waiver for a fifth season, according to his attorney, Darren Heitner.

Heitner told On3 that Christensen and his legal team are still hoping to clear a way for him to play for Colorado this fall. Christensen, who was a first-team All-CUSA selection at New Mexico State last season, gave the Aggies immediate production in 2025 with 11 tackles for loss and six sacks.

Heitner said Christensen's path to college football has been shaped by circumstances far beyond the field. He allegedly notes that Christensen grew up in an orphanage in Sierra Leone, was adopted at 16 without any knowledge of American football or NCAA rules and then lost his high school senior season because of the pandemic. That, Heitner said, left Christensen without the counseling he would have needed before beginning at the junior college level.

"The NCAA canceled his waiver without ever engaging with a single one of those facts," Heitner said. "The NCAA purportedly reopened Ezra’s case after initially erroneously canceling it. But the NCAA is sitting on its hands and Ezra can't wait any longer."

If Christensen is not cleared, the Buffs could turn to options such as Santana Hopper, Quincy Wiggins, Samu Taumanupepe and Sedrick Smith to fill out the rotation. 

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This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Colorado DL Ezra Christensen's eligibility battle heads to court