Here we go folks: Peterson says he's ready for NFL Palestine RB has no plans to enter draft but keeps options open 01:59 AM CST on Sunday, February 8, 2004 By KATE HAIROPOULOS / The Dallas Morning News Palestine running back Adrian Peterson, the nation's top college football recruit, has dreamed of playing in the NFL since he was 8 years old. A ruling by a federal judge Thursday means Peterson could be closer to making that dream a reality. The decision struck down the NFL's rule limiting the league's draft to players at least three years out of high school. Suspended Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett sued the league to change the rule. "I was rooting for him," said Peterson, who signed a national letter of intent to attend Oklahoma on Wednesday. If the ruling holds up on appeal, it could clear the way for teenagers such as Peterson to enter the NFL directly out of high school. It also creates a new option for college underclassmen. But Peterson had no plans as of Friday night to make himself eligible for April's draft. The NFL set a March 1 deadline for players newly made eligible for the draft. There is no groundwork in place for Peterson to test the NFL waters without sacrificing his NCAA eligibility. But Peterson said he would keep his options open and thinks he could play in the NFL now. "That would be something special to do," Peterson said. "Personally, I think I could. But that's just me. ...It wouldn't be wise for a lineman. I'll say that. But it's totally different with running backs and receivers. I'd have to see what they offered me." High school athletes in sports such as basketball and baseball have been able to go straight to the professional ranks for years. Football has always been considered different because of the physical nature of the sport. The ruling raises the question if younger players will be ready to compete in the NFL. "If a high school running back can make that jump, I think Adrian has as good a chance as anybody," Palestine coach Jeff Harrell said. "He would have to look at everything and talk to people who know more about it. ...Those are the best players in the world. It's a big jump to Division I. Jumping to the pros is as big a jump." The physical level is what would be most difficult about making the leap, said Peterson, who is 6-3, 208 pounds. But he said his speed would help the adjustment. Peterson rushed for 2,315 yards and 32 touchdowns this season. He also plans to run track at Oklahoma and has been timed in the 100-meter at 10.32 seconds and 20.34 in the 200. "I'm not that big, but I'm fast," Peterson said. "I'm pretty sure I can outrun the whole Dallas Cowboys team." Peterson traveled to Ohio on Saturday to accept the Touchdown Club of Columbus Offensive Player of the Year award and was also up for the organization's High School Player of the Year honor. He said if the ruling holds up and he has a standout freshman season at Oklahoma, he would definitely have to consider his NFL options. "If they offered me $5 million, hey, I'm for that," Peterson said. "How could you turn that down?" I think Joey Galloway may have a bone to pick with AP.
You can't turn that down, especially since you may either end up sucking or ruin your potential career with a severe injury. College football as we know it will change little, as there will certainly be less straight to the pro players than in the NBA and while Carmelo Anthony or Lebron James still in college certainly would change the dynamic of which team is the best, I don't think it seriously changes the dynamic of how much overall talent is on the field and how two talented teams match up.
Hahaha. I'd love to see him do it. Or Clarett. They'll be made examples of. The jump from HS to NFL is not even close to the same as with basketball. First of all physically he's nowhere close to ready. He's not faster than everyone. He couldn't take the hits. He couldn't take the 16 game season. He couldn't take in the playbook. He couldn't handle the lifestyle. The NFL is a man's league. They don't stockpile developing talent on rosters either. This will all end very quickly...and embarrassingly for some kid.
This could be disaster for the NFL more than college football, especially if high-schoolers start jumping to the pro's. The level of competition goes through such a drastic change throughout each level...I mean a guy like Peterson played against defenses in high school that probably have nobody good enough for college football, much less the NFL. It will make recruiting for college a little tougher. Coaches aren't going to be sure if the guy they have is going to be there for more than a year or two. Right now they know they got their guys for 3+ years, so they can look towards the future a little bit.
I would say the jump is equivalent between sports. If it can be done in the NBA, MLS, and MLB then it can be done in the NFL. Althletes adapt very quickly to their competition. The best altheletes in the world get better by playing against the best. When you look at the NBA half of the top 10 players were high school entries. And the reason is they had 4 years of playing the best instead of playing 4 years against the college scrubs. Nothing against college sports. It's a great training ground. But you learn more from the best players and coaches.
6'3", 208? He wouldn't even make it out of training camp... Maybe I could see it if the kid had an NFL body. Maybe.
Really? Who do you consider the top ten players? The only high schoolers I would say are in the top ten are Garnett and Bryant. Jermaine O'Neal is probably the next best high schooler, and he probably would have developed faster as a college starter than as a Portland benchwarmer. Duncan, Nowitzki, Carter, Iverson, Brand, Webber, Stojakvic, Kidd, Yao, and Shaq were all older when they came into the league, with experience either in college or overseas.
I personally can't see NFL teams taking a chance on high schoolers who have potential like they do in the NBA. The way the NFL is set up, any team has a chance to win the next year, so I really can't see a team wasting a first round pick on a player that really wouldn't be able to play for three years. This is just a bunch of Chicken Little talk if you ask me. The impact on the college football game will be hard to see, IMO.
Tracy McGrady? Al Harrington? Rashard Lewis? Jonathan Bender? Those guys arent too shabby. Especially McGrady.
i think it'll be pretty interesting to see what kind of impact it has not only on recruiting but being able to keep your players more than one year. If you look at college football over the past few years, there have been quite a few great players who could have left after their junior year but chose to stay.
well mcgrady, kobe, and kg are 3 of the top 5 and jermaine is at least top 10 so at least 4 of the top 10 came from HS. not sure who the fifth would be, though. as far as the jump, i really don't think it's any bigger than for the NBA or MLB. except for amare, which guys have jumped straight to the nba and had immediate success? which MLB guys have? kobe/kg/tmac did some things in their first 3 years, but they still had to wait for their bodies to catch up before making a real impact in their 4th years. and it would be the same in the nfl, especially for skill position guys. they would be completely outmatched physically. but they'd still put up comparable numbers to high schoolers in the nba until their bodies caught up and most likely see a lot of pine for the first 3 years. the only positions i really couldn't see cutting it would be lineman, b/c they have to be in direct physical competition the entire time or linebackers b/c again their job depends on being physical enough to tackle. also qb's, but that would be more mental and development-wise, not so much the physical.
I think that the way NFL salaries works will prevent this from being a problem. First round players are the only ones that get a sizeable signing bonus. I think that straight from high school type players would get drafted much later in the draft than that. Add that with the fact that NFL contracts are not guarenteed and it is not all that attractive financially for a player to come out that early. Its only attractive for Clarett since the NCAA likely would never let him play again since he is a bit of a scewup. With the NBA if a player is a top 15 draft pick they will at least earn a few million over the course of the guranteed rookie contract. If they wash out after only a few years they are still set for life if they dont blow all their money. Its also much easier to stick a player on the end of the bench and wait for them to develop in the NBA. With football each roster spot is important since the lesser players take up special teems duties.
I agreed with you on McGrady, Lewis, maybe even Harrington, but Bender, who's averaging 3.7 ppg and 3 rpg this (his 5th) season, is one of the poster boys for why most high school players should go to college.
Even if you don't have high school players going straight to the NFL very often, you're still probably going to have some players leaving sooner than they otherwise would have. Even if they're only leaving a year earlier than the usual now, that's still going to impact the college game.
How do you explain the low number of juniors who leave early? I think there were only around 40 who were in the draft last year. I really think the number of people leaving early will be insignificant. There may be a few more than usual at first, but when they see them fail or not have very successful careers in relation to seniors/juniors, then the number will drop even further. IMO, it'd take close to 10% of all recruits going straight to the pros before college football is significantly harmed. I don't see that happening. I think that number will realistically be a fraction of a percent.
Wasn't Nowitzki only like 19 when he was drafted. Also, did Pedja go to college, most Euro's start playing professionally while high school age, so using European players as an example actually works against you because they still get professional training, and as we all know, Europeans are coming in with a lot more skills than the Americans.
BTW, this year there are only 42. http://cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/story/6982073 Let's assume that 42 juniors, sophomores, freshman, and high schoolers declare (which they won't), that totals 168 players declaring early for the draft. 117 D-I schools at 80 scholarships per team equals approximately 9400 players. If that many underclassmen declared every year, that'd be around 1.7% of players. Hardly a deathknell for college football.
I will be extremely suprised if a player successfully makes the jump from high school to the NFL. Worse, I think that there is a legitimate risk that one of these kids will suffer catastrophic injury by trying to make the jump before they have matured physically. This is going to get ugly folks.
Wow. I can't believe there are people stupid enough to think there is little difference with the jump to MLB/NBA and the NFL. That shows how little you understand about pro football.
In the end, it may not end up making any difference at all, but I can see why people would be concerned after what has happened in college basketball.
