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The People v. Darian Mensah

Assessing Duke’s epic lawsuit and a full slate of other football-related cases approaching their day in court with Eriq Gardner, Puck’s resident legal expert.

Darian Mensah duke college football
Duke’s complaint is essentially that quarterback Darian Mensah signed an N.I.L. deal to stay at the school through the end of this year. Photo: David Jensen/Getty Images
John Ourand
&
Eriq Gardner
January 22, 2026

It’s boom days for football in America. Then again, when is it not? No matter which metric you use—viewership, sponsorship, ticket sales, apparel—college and pro football are by far the two most popular sports properties in the U.S. But even as the NFL’s season hurtles through its annual ratings bonanza in the weeks ahead of the Super Bowl, and the college game basks in the afterglow of another expanded playoff season, some of the most competitive action in the coming weeks and months will occur in the courtroom rather than on the field or in the owner’s box.