I think it's a good rule, but even if I thought it was stupid, I still think it should be left up to the owners. If they don't want to let 20 year olds in, it should be their perrogative.
Glad to hear it. I heard on PTI today that 12 highschool players are attempting to enter the NBA draft. Hopefully this will have an effect on the NBA draft also.
Exactly. Thank God that Clarett didn't get the easy way out. Such a shame that he has to put up with, *ugh*, college for 2 more years or so.
Thankfully. I sort of feel bad for Mike Williams, but not Clarett. I doubt the NCAA will reinstate him, so I guess that means he'll be in the supplemental draft. I do think players should have the right to leave just like in the NBA, but I don't think it'd every get as bad as basketball because -No guaranteed money -Greater physical jump -Greater mental jump
i think the nfl should get to keep this rule simply because i don't think you should get to tell an organization what rules it can set, especially when those have been agreed upon by labor and management. and while i like the side effect of keeping college better, that is a HORRIBLE argument to make. potentially costing someone millions of dollars so you can enjoy a game (as much as we all may like it) is very poor grounds for not letting them in the nfl. while medical technology has come to the point that you can recover from almost anything, there's still never a guarantee if you get injured that you'll return to 100% and that's still the reason i never blame a guy for jumping to the nba for the 3 year guaranteed contract. if you can set yourself up financially for the rest of your life, you should always take the chance (and be allowed to) unless you just really love college and wanna take the injury chance. so will mike williams be in the supplemental draft (assuming they have it) even if they uphold this stay and he's not allowed in the real draft? or will that just happen if they overturn this stay but it comes after the draft has happened? oh, and what the hell is the supplemental draft? if you use a pick in it do you lose that same pick in the next real draft?
Just because they are a private organization is a lousy reason. So if they didn't want brown players or jews or gays that would be OK because they are private? Maybe they could get away with a 21 year old rule (can bars and strip clubs make sure employees are 21 or over?). Maybe, but 3 years out of high school makes no sense. Agreed. The colleges exploit the athletes pure an simple. If top flight college athletes could get injury insurance and 20K stipends then the NCAA could make some case they are looking after their student athletes.
So if the owners decided they didn't want blacks, it should be their perogative. I don't like decisions based on arbitrary lines whether it be race, age, culture, etc. In a monopoly situation such as the NFL, decisions are required to be just, iirc. If this was a restaurant chain, it could be punished by boycotts and the loss of qualified canidates.
How about president of the united states? You have to be 35 to be elected...do you think that should be changed to allow all ages? Some would argue that an NFL player is a more important position in our country than president.
Apparently plenty of owners were ready to draft Mike Williams in the top 10. That's the problem with the law, the owners are want these kids just as much as the kids want to come out, and that's why the law won't hold up. No one is forcing anyone to hire people they don't want to.
I actually wouldn't have a problem with that considering the over 35 crowd has not produced a suitable canidate. I do wish canidates had to pass a citizen bee.
If the owners truly don't like the rule, they can get rid of the rule. The NFL came up with the rule, and the owners are the NFL. Since they have not done so, it seems like it might be that, collectively, the owners do want the rule. There's no one, except the owners themselves, keeping the NFL from scrapping the rules on their own.
The collective mood is often different from the mood of the individual teams. When they make league rules, they at least try to make a decision that will be good for the league as a whole. When they talk about drafting a particular player if available, they're making a decision that relates to their team getting a competitive advantage.
But if they really believe that sophomores shouldn't be allowed to enter the draft because they're not physically ready, why would they take one in the first round? You can't say one thing, then do the opposite.
mrpaige, I'm not really arguing with, its just silly to say that this is what the NFL wants, when you're right, the NFL is the collection of owners and individually they are clearly ready to draft underclassmen.
I don't buy this "it is ok to be arbirary and discriminatory because private organizations can set their own rules" argument at all. In the 50s pro sports franchices had a rule like that no Black players were allowed, that is OK? Is it OK to exclude Jews, gays, and those over 35 from pro football because the owners want to?
To me, I think that's just an excuse that's used in an attempt to have a reason to have the rule. I do think they're hypocritical, but I also believe there is a dual nature to the decision-making in the NFL. You really can't say they want one thing or the other because they do want both things. They want to keep these kids out AND they want to have them on their team.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1787651 Associated Press WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court refused Thursday to let Maurice Clarett into the National Football League draft this weekend, delaying for now the 20-year-old's attempt to be the first player chosen less than three years after completing high school. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she saw no reason to overturn a lower court's stay preventing him from being chosen by a professional team. The former Ohio State tailback is fighting the NFL's requirement that players wait three years after high school before turning pro. The decision also keeps wide receiver Mike Williams of Southern California out of the draft. Williams, who entered the draft after the original decision allowing in Clarett, would have been a first-round pick while Clarett likely would have gone in the second or third round. The NFL said in a filing with Ginsburg that it could be unfair to the team that picked Clarett, and ultimately to a player who loses out on that spot. "Noting the National Football League's commitment promptly to conduct a supplemental draft" if Clarett eventually is determined eligible, Ginsburg said she will not intervene. The NFL had said Clarett could participate in training camps this summer, if he wins his case in a lower court. Clarett was appealing a stay issued Monday by the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, putting a hold on a lower-court ruling that said the NFL can't enforce its three-year rule. The decision was announced in a brief letter to the appeals court. Ginsburg handled the matter because she oversees appeals from New York, which is where the NFL is based. Clarett led Ohio State to a national title as a freshman, but was ruled ineligible as a sophomore for accepting money from a family friend and lying about it to NCAA and university investigators. Clarett, out of high school two years, would be eligible for the 2005 draft under the current rule. Clarett's attorney, Alan Milstein, had told Ginsburg the player would "suffer substantial irreparable injury" if he was not allowed in the draft. Clarett could refile his request with another justice, but the outcome likely would not be different. Most emergency appeals are rejected by the court. Ohio State coach Jim Tressel had said it was "far-fetched" that Clarett would return to play for the Buckeyes. He dropped out of classes at Ohio State after the winter quarter. "From an academic standpoint, unless the NCAA really changes its posture about academics, I think it would be difficult," Tressel said. Former stars such as Reggie White, Cris Carter and Bernie Kosar entered the NFL after being taken in supplemental drafts.
