Auburn vs. LSU

Auburn defensive lineman Carl Lawson (55) celebrates tackling LSU quarterback Danny Etling (16) during the first half Saturday Sept. 24, 2016, at Jordan Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

Auburn will have two players in this year's Reese's Senior Bowl, but appeared for at least one day that they would have a third.

Game officials announced last week that junior defensive end Carl Lawson had accepted an invitation to the game, along with senior teammates Montravius Adams and Rudy Ford. However, it was later discovered that Lawson had not graduated from Auburn, and was thus ineligible for the game.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Senior Bowl executive director Phil Savage said the breakdown occurred between NFL headquarters and the Auburn athletic department. The NFL personnel office verifies which third- or fourth-year juniors who are set to enter the draft have graduated from college, making them eligible for the Senior Bowl even though they are not seniors.

"We submit a pool of names to the league office, the player personnel department up there, these are the third or fourth-year juniors that we understand will be graduating," Savage said. "They have to go to the school to verify that. They came back to us and said 'Carl Lawson is eligible for your game.' So we invited Carl in December, he went through bowl practices for the Sugar Bowl, and indicated that he would let us know afterwards. He accepted his invite after the Oklahoma game. We took it in, and put it out there (publicly).

"But then, as soon as it went out, once he filed his legitimate paperwork declaring (for the draft), when they went back one more time, they discovered that he had actually not graduated, he was still one class or one internship short. So they immediately called me and said 'he's not eligible for the game.' I had already spoken to Carl a couple of times, so I had to call him and his agent and let him know he wasn't going to be able to do it."

Non-senior college graduates have been able to play in the Senior Bowl for four years now, with Alabama offensive tackle D.J. Fluker the most-high-profile example. There are two graduate underclassmen in this year's game, Clemson wide receiver Artavis Scott and Florida linebacker Alex Anzalone.

Savage said he was comfortable with the current set-up and rejected the idea that the Senior Bowl might in the future verify a player's graduation status directly with his school.

"We do sometimes go to the school behind the scenes, just to find out if (a player) has a reasonable chance to graduate," Savage said. "But we let the league handle that (formally). We don't want to put our organization between the player and the school, in terms of 'he's thinking about going out, and if he goes out, he gets to go to the Senior Bowl.' We don't want to be used as a bargaining chip or a brokering chip to encourage a player to come out. We'd rather they all stay in."

The Senior Bowl takes place Jan. 28 at Mobile's Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The game will be televised live by NFL Network at 1:30 p.m. Central.