A regular redshirt would play no downs of ball at all, a medical redshirt would have competed, gotten hurt, then appealed to the NCAA for redshirt status. But just because you appeal to the NCAA for medical redshirt doesn't entitle the athlete to receive it, from my understanding it can be very difficult to obtain it and it involves alot of work, such as submitting medical claims, doctors visits, how long the injury will incompacitate the athlete and so on. If the injury occurs at the end of the competing season, the athlete can appeal for redshirt status for the next competing year.
found these definitions on the net: REDSHIRT: The term "redshirt" is used to describe a student-athlete who does not participate in competition in a sport for an entire academic year. If you do not compete in a sport the entire academic year, you have not used a season of competition. For example, if you are a qualifier, and you attend a four-year college your freshman year, and you practice but do not compete against outside competition, you would still have the next four years to play four seasons of competition. Each student is allowed no more than four seasons of competition per sport. If you were not a qualifier, you may have fewer seasons of competition available to you. You should know that NCAA rules indicate that any competition, regardless of time, during a season counts as one of your seasons of competition in that sport. It does not matter how long you were involved in a particular competition (for example, one play in a football game, one point in a volleyball match); you will be charged with one season of competition. MEDICAL HARDSHIP WAIVER: Though often called a "medical redshirt" by sportswriters and sportscasters, the actual term is a "medical hardship waiver". The concept goes like this: Every student-athlete who meets the minimum academic standards coming out of high school gets four season of NCAA Division I Competition eligibility in each sport. If a student-athlete is injured during a season and cannot return to competition, he or she may qualify for another opportunity to utilize that season of competitive eligibility. To receive a medical hardship waiver - in any sport - the injury must limit the student-athlete’s participation to no more than 20 percent of the team’s contests (rounded to the next whole number), with all participation occurring in the first half of the season. Therefore, for a football player, the maximum number of games that he can play in and still receive a medical hardship waiver is three (20 percent of 11 equals 2.2, which is rounded up to 3), and none of his time on the field can occur after the fifth game (the sixth game of an eleven game season is considered in the second half of the season). In the case of a 12 game regular season, none of the player's time on the field can occur after the sixth game. The seventh game of a 12 game season is considered in the second half of the season.
Add that they have 5 years to play 4 seasons, except when a medical redshirt is issued. Then you can actually play 4 years in 6 seasons. This is a rarity. Jason White of OU fame actually received 2 medical redshirts and played 4 out of 6.
Didn't jason white also get a regular redshirt his freshman season as well as the two medical redshirts?
