Maurice Clarett sues the NFL
okay, any opinions on all this mess? on one hand, i don't think that just because this kid f*cks up, that he should sue for entrance into the nfl to make everything okay again.
then again, the nba opened this whole "hire 'em while they're young" bull a long time ago. i am sure if they could find a 6'7" animal that could dunk but couldn't even sign his own name, he'd be starting next season...
i used to think that a kid needed to stay in college, if for no other reason than to get his head screwed on straight. but then again, there's nothing saying that an extra few years in college will make you any better of a person. many of the larger college athletic systems are just as opulent (and probably more corrupt) than professional counterparts.
i dunno. i'm pretty torn on all this. the only thing i am fairly sure of is that he has some very bad advisors right now who are only seeing him as a stack of dollar bills rather than a person.
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then again, the nba opened this whole "hire 'em while they're young" bull a long time ago. i am sure if they could find a 6'7" animal that could dunk but couldn't even sign his own name, he'd be starting next season...
i used to think that a kid needed to stay in college, if for no other reason than to get his head screwed on straight. but then again, there's nothing saying that an extra few years in college will make you any better of a person. many of the larger college athletic systems are just as opulent (and probably more corrupt) than professional counterparts.
i dunno. i'm pretty torn on all this. the only thing i am fairly sure of is that he has some very bad advisors right now who are only seeing him as a stack of dollar bills rather than a person.
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Comments
break a leg in college as a running back, or ankle and suddenly you're worth $10 million less.
Any private organization can set what level of education they want their employees to have. But it seems to me that a BS/BA has nothing to do with playing *ball well.
Originally posted by BR
The point is this is blatant denial of his right to work. If the player in question is talented enough to get a team in a free market to sign him to a contract, that is between the team and the player and none of the business of the NFL commissioner. If a team wants to waste a roster spot on a player that isn't good enough or mature enough, that's the team's problem and they will suffer because of it. There is no BFOQ (bona fide occupational qualification) that requires a player to be three years removed from high school. The BFOQ for a runningback is his ability to run, block, and maybe play special teams.
Bingo BR.
How can the NFL tell anyone that they cannot play in the NFL if they have the skills. Anyone on this board can tryout for an NFL Team if the Team wants it. Sure it will change College Football. But maybe that's good. Watching Willis McGahee get his knee destroyed in last years BCS Championship broke my heart. I'm glad he was still picked up because of his potential. Other players don't get that luck.
You only need to play for a few years in the NFL to get a pension. You do the match. Even if you sit on the bench for two years and have a meager 3-4 year career you are eligible for a Pension.
College football has profitted from Athletes far too long and what do they get in turn? School paid for but the NCAA breathing down their necks at every turn. The NFL cannot and must not use College Football as their "Free" Minor Leagues.
Any "Sane" Court should abolish this nonsense immediately. College Football will still remain competitive. Just as the NBA has.
Obviously the vast majority of DivI players will never sniff an NFL roster, but for guys like Clarett the "student" part of "student-athlete" didn't mean a damned thing.
The NFL wants to keep the 3-year-rule in place so they can keep their free farm system (NCAA football) and the NCAA will support the 3-year-rule to keep the biggest of the superstars from jumping early (note the effect on college basketball, and more dramatically, college baseball).
But the NFL has a built-in protection of being extremely ****ing brutal. Clarett couldn't keep healthy in a 12 game NCAA season, what the hell is going to make him more durable after taking a year off and moving to a 20+ game NFL season (pre-season, season and playoffs)?
Scrooge McDunk can come into the NBA and not be expected to bang with Shaq in the low-post (you can be effective other ways), but no one is going to bring Clarett in and pay him millions run out of bounds every time a defensive player comes near him. He's a power back, and a power back who is somewhat injury prone from high school and his one year in Div1.
Maybe he'll win, work really hard in the off-season and come out, blow up at the combines, get drafted really high and turn out to be a hall-of-famer. Or maybe he'll fizzle out, get drafted late and amount to little or nothing. Clarett himself is incidental, the real story here is the NFL and the NCAA.
Obviously the vast majority of DivI players will never sniff an NFL roster, but for guys like Clarett the "student" part of "student-athlete" didn't mean a damned thing.
Why should it. He's recruited to play Football and attend studies like everyone else. Banish the NFL Underclassment rule and he can skip the whole school process.
The NFL wants to keep the 3-year-rule in place so they can keep their free farm system (NCAA football) and the NCAA will support the 3-year-rule to keep the biggest of the superstars from jumping early (note the effect on college basketball, and more dramatically, college baseball).
True. But the Final Four is still exciting. As is the College World Series. Talent only needs to be matched to have an entertaining game.
But the NFL has a built-in protection of being extremely ****ing brutal. Clarett couldn't keep healthy in a 12 game NCAA season, what the hell is going to make him more durable after taking a year off and moving to a 20+ game NFL season (pre-season, season and playoffs)?
Giving the choice I'd rather take the punishment for 600k per year in the NFL than the paltry "benefits" of the Scholarship Student-Athlete. This is a no brainer for those talented enough for the next level.
Scrooge McDunk can come into the NBA and not be expected to bang with Shaq in the low-post (you can be effective other ways), but no one is going to bring Clarett in and pay him millions run out of bounds every time a defensive player comes near him. He's a power back, and a power back who is somewhat injury prone from high school and his one year in Div1.
Duly noted but irrelevant to the issue at hand. the NFL has no right to prevent an Athlete from making a living based on Discriminatory practices currently in place. This is a farce.
Why should it. He's recruited to play Football and attend studies like everyone else. Banish the NFL Underclassment rule and he can skip the whole school process.
I don't care what they do, I was just pointing out how things are going.
True. But the Final Four is still exciting. As is the College World Series. Talent only needs to be matched to have an entertaining game.
I disagree. The Final Four is better than the CWS because basketball doesn't lose as much talent as baseball. NBA Draft is 3 rounds (right?), MLB Draft is 8 billion rounds.
Giving the choice I'd rather take the punishment for 600k per year in the NFL than the paltry "benefits" of the Scholarship Student-Athlete. This is a no brainer for those talented enough for the next level.
Coming out of high school it is much more likely you suffer injury in the NFL than coming out of even 3 or 4 years at college level. Most of these footballers coming out of high school aren't even physically prepared for college ball; if they're in good shape they're usually too thin and if they have the size they usually aren't carrying it well.
Running back, kicker, punter and *maybe* wide receiver are the only positions conceivable (IMO) for a kid jumping from HS to NFL. After a few Mr. Football SeniorHS Gods get annihilated by Ray Lewis a few months after their prom the RB and WR situations will be rectified, I think.
Duly noted but irrelevant to the issue at hand. the NFL has no right to prevent an Athlete from making a living based on Discriminatory practices currently in place. This is a farce.
If the NFL and NFLPA decide that they don't want kids under 20 or 21 or whatever playing as part of their collective bargaining agreement then that's fine.
Dexter Manley went through college before the NFL and he couldn't read. There is no real boundary, mandatory college stays HELP athletes like Clarett. He can have his make-up oral finals for Underwater Basketweaving and showcase himself on ABC.
Whether or not it is upheld... I don't care. I can live with it either way.
apparently there is a very very big difference between the NFL and college. The level of brutality and violence in the NFL is ratcheted up a thousand percent, it is much faster and they hit very hard every single play.
He played Offensive Gaurd and he said that every single play he would see a slight flash when hitting the opponent: to put this into perspective: a flash of light indicates that a concussion has occured!!!
He started out with a great team and had teh biggest biceps in the league but by three years he was playing for N Orleans (very bad at that time) and had hurt his neck to the point of needing to stop playing. That's teh way it goes for many of the non-glory positions (mainly Offensive line) chew-em up and spit-em out . . . with nary a blurb in SportIllustrated
He wasn't raking in much cash and he never mentioned a pension
But
He had one thing that I think probably comes with the territorry in the NFL, and that is certified GUMPTION up the wazzoo . . . It was fairly obviouse that with his solid EGO and sense of Gusto he would force ahead inb teh world and do fairly well in whatever endeavor . .
except being an artist (in my mind) which was what he was set on doing . . . But he would propbably find some route within or around art making that would do just fine for him . . .