AP

Colts rookie receiver Donte Moncrief is the youngest player on the team at age 20, but if he had had the chance, he might have gone to the NFL a year ago.

Moncrief has a daughter, and his father has been unable to work for the last two years as he’s been suffering from a bone disease, and Moncrief wanted to get to the NFL as fast as he could to begin supporting his family.

“It was just time,” he told the Indianapolis Star. “I had some family [issues] that I needed to help with. I’ve got a daughter now, and that’s the big thing. . . . My mom’s been all alone working. I just wanted to be able to help my family and provide for my daughter.”

The NFL rule requiring players to be at least three years out of high school before they enter the league is a bad deal for guys like Moncrief, who could have been earning money to support his family last year if only the league would have allowed it. Moncrief wasn’t a college star on the level of Jadeveon Clowney, who would have been the first overall pick in last year’s NFL draft if the rules hadn’t required him to wait until this year, but he’s talented enough that he would have been on an NFL roster last year if given the chance.

Now he’s getting that chance, and with a $2.5 million contract and a $539,800 signing bonus, he’ll be able to take very good care of his family.