Hanspard announced shortly after the end of the 1996 season that he would give up his last year of eligibility and enter the 1997 NFL Draft. An ordained Pentecostal minister, he said that he felt the NFL gave him a better opportunity to expand his ministry. However, he later became the source of controversy after it emerged that he had all but abandoned his studies during what turned out to be his last year in school, posting a 0.00 grade point average for the 1996 fall semester. In part because of this, Texas Tech withdrew from bowl consideration in 1997. Hanspard did not return his Doak Walker Award, however.