When An RC Is Not An RC

The 2019 NFL Draft is not for a couple of weeks, but during the NFL Combine (1/26-3/4/2019) Panini took a bunch of photos of the potential rookies to release as Panini Instant Football cards. Seems like a logical financial choice, make some quick cash of players prior to the draft. But then, they went and Paninied it up and added the RC logo. 

Here is the actual NFL description of when a card should include an RC logo: "A NFL player is designated a rookie at the time they declare their eligibility for the official NFL Draft and are pictured in their NFL uniform. Thus any football rookie cards that are produced prior to this point, including cards which depict the player in their NCAA uniforms, are not considered official rookie cards."

Yes Murray has declared for the draft, part I, but he is not in a NFL uniform (or any NFL logos or team names), part II. Thus, this is not considered an official rookie card.

The checklist is only 8 players, and they will all most likely go in the First Round of the NFL Draft, but (as Devil’s advocate) what if one of them didn’t get drafted and ended up going to the AAF or XFL? They now have an official NFL RC even though they never spent a day in the league. 

Hey Panini, when can I expect my NFL rookie card?