Posted on: Friday, February 6, 2004

Clarett ruling gets cool reception

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Pro Bowl players and NFL analysts yesterday spoke out against a federal ruling that potentially could open the doors for high school graduates and college underclassmen to enter the NFL draft.

A federal judge in New York yesterday ruled that Ohio State sophomore running back Maurice Clarett is eligible for the NFL draft because the league's rule violates anti-trust laws. The NFL said it will appeal, and it may try to block the ruling before the April draft.

Clarett, 20, who is 6 feet and 230 pounds, became the first person to challenge a NFL's 1990 rule that requires a player to be out of high school for three years to be eligible for the draft. Clarett played one season at Ohio State and led the Buckeyes to the 2002 national title.

"He's just not ready for this," said Jerry Jones, who has analyzed college prospects for 27 years for his NFL Draft Ratings publications.

"I think in football especially, there's a certain level of physical maturity that is more necessary than in other sports," he said.

The ruling would allow high school graduates to jump to the pros much like the NBA.

Dozens of basketball players, including Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, have gone to the NBA straight after high school.

But the NFL is different, according to players and experts, who said the young players would be overmatched, be prone to more injuries, and be preyed upon by overzealous agents if they were allowed entry into the NFL draft.

"As a player, I didn't develop physically until I was a junior and senior in college (at Syracuse)," said Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney, 26, a first-time Pro Bowl selection.

"This is not like basketball where you have to put the ball in the hoop, and you don't have to be physical. You got to be pretty physical at this level. I think there's some rules that are good, that are in place for the benefit of the players."

Freeney said he'd rather see younger athletes enter college and get their education, adding "that's the biggest thing."

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez said he sympathized with cash-strapped younger athletes who are looking for a better life for themselves and their families, but he sided with the NFL eligibility rule because it worked for him.

"Kids, they want the money, and sometimes you got situations at home and all that stuff, and you got to go get (the money)," said Gonzalez, 27, a five-time Pro Bowl selection. "I understand both sides.

"If I would have come out after my sophomore year, it would have been the worst thing for me," added Gonzalez, who entered the NFL after his junior season at California. "I think it would have ruined me. It would have taken me longer because I would have been down on myself (because) you're getting your butt kicked and you're moving to a new city. I like the rule, three years is good."

Chris Mortensen, a veteran ESPN NFL reporter, said he was concerned about agents taking advantage of relaxed eligibility rules by "feeding off young players" and convincing them to enter the NFL draft.

Mortensen said he doubted that a high school player could thrive in the NFL because of the physical and mental demands of the professional sport.

"A high school player would come out and he probably would find himself out in the streets because he wouldn't be eligible to play college football," Mortensen said. "There's a lot of guys who don't make it in this league. There's a lot of people who tried and were drafted, and I think the younger you are, the greater the odds that you are going to be flipping burgers."

As for players who want to enter the NFL draft to avoid school, Mortensen said that's the wrong attitude to take.

"A lot of guys leave college early because they think, 'I'm tired of going to class,' " Mortensen said. "When you go to the Dallas Cowboys, you're going to be in class, you're going to be on time ... you're not going to be able to miss a mental assignment because Bill Parcells will bounce you out of this league.

"That's the way it is in every place. You still go to class in the NFL, but you just go to class on football. Actually, there's less leniency (in the NFL)."

As for Clarett, Jones said he questions the back's durability, character and speed. Clarett was injury-prone in his only college season and has faced off-field troubles that cost him his sophomore season.

"There are some teams who will just take him off their (draft) board," Jones said. "I think he's going to fall in a vast group of people that will go in rounds two to three. I would consider him late second, early third round."

In yesterday's ruling, the Associated Press reported that U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin said the legal issues were so clearly in Clarett's favor that there was no need for a trial.

"This is precisely the sort of conduct that the antitrust laws were designed to prevent," she wrote in a ruling. "Indeed, one can scarcely think of a more blatantly anticompetitive policy than one that excludes certain competitors from the market altogether."

At a news conference in Manhattan, Clarett said: "I was pleased that the rule was brought down. It gives kids an opportunity to choose."

Scheindlin said the league's justifications for its rule "boil down to the same basic concern: younger players are not physically or mentally ready to play in the NFL." But she said less-restrictive alternatives are available, such as testing each player's physical and psychological maturity.

"Age is obviously a poor proxy for NFL-readiness, as is restriction based solely on height or weight," she said.

If the NFL used maturity tests, "no player would be automatically excluded from the market and each team could decide what level of risk it is willing to tolerate."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2458.