Keith Mumphery, a once and perhaps future pro football receiver, stands vindicated, cleared of charges of sexual assault that nearly wrecked him. Now he needs someone to hand him back two years of his life.

When last seen on the football field in 2016 with the Houston Texans, Mumphery was building a career as a wide receiver. Then a few months later came the news that his former university, Michigan State, had reinvestigated an old accusation without informing him and then decided that he was guilty of relationship violence.

To the world, he appeared akin to a rapist and the roof of his life fell in.

The Texans cut him loose without asking him so much as a question, and no other N.F.L. team would touch him. Who needed another headache in an era of heightened sensitivity? Michigan State expelled him from a graduate program and threatened him with arrest if he stepped on campus again. Mumphery returned to his tiny hometown in Georgia, to his mother’s trailer, and began a battle to save his reputation.

Michigan State has finally admitted it was wrong. The university agreed to a settlement in May that gives Mumphery an undisclosed sum and — more importantly — wipes clean his record, which could allow him to resume a pro career. Left in place, however, is a misshapen version of college justice that adhered to the loosest standards of evidence and that very nearly ruined his life.