Commanders Post at The Warpath - View Single Post

sportscurmudgeon · 05-26-2004, 07:25 PM

Thank you for Tony Mandarich. I'm having a senior moment here.

I have nothing against giving Maurice Clarett the same opportunity that every other college junior has to jump to the NFL - the moment he is a college junior.

BTW, to be accurate, the NFL rule does not say a player has to be 21. It says his high school class had to graduate three years ago. MOST high school grads are 18, but if a kid graduated at 16, he'd be eligible for the NFL draft at 19 under the current rule. This is one way that the rule might be attacked because it is not equally applied...

It is the NBA that wants to have a lower age limit of 20 for all its players. the NFL merely wants them out of HS for 3 years.

I don't think the NFL gives a fig about colleges losing money when star players leave school. And the NCAA hardly has fallen all over itself to try to keep a door open for Clarett to come back and play for them somewhere. In fact, unless the NCAA filed an amicus curiae brief in the very last hearing in the appeals court, then they were not even a party to this action. So the money that Clarett might generate as a college football palyer does not seem to have enticed them very much.

05-26-2004, 07:25 PM	#31
sportscurmudgeon Playmaker Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 3,159	Thank you for Tony Mandarich. I'm having a senior moment here. I have nothing against giving Maurice Clarett the same opportunity that every other college junior has to jump to the NFL - the moment he is a college junior. BTW, to be accurate, the NFL rule does not say a player has to be 21. It says his high school class had to graduate three years ago. MOST high school grads are 18, but if a kid graduated at 16, he'd be eligible for the NFL draft at 19 under the current rule. This is one way that the rule might be attacked because it is not equally applied... It is the NBA that wants to have a lower age limit of 20 for all its players. the NFL merely wants them out of HS for 3 years. I don't think the NFL gives a fig about colleges losing money when star players leave school. And the NCAA hardly has fallen all over itself to try to keep a door open for Clarett to come back and play for them somewhere. In fact, unless the NCAA filed an amicus curiae brief in the very last hearing in the appeals court, then they were not even a party to this action. So the money that Clarett might generate as a college football palyer does not seem to have enticed them very much.