Quoting the article:
Quote:
Clarett sued the league last year to challenge its 1990 rule that a player must be out of high school three years to enter the draft.
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The league argued that Clarett should not be eligible for the draft because its rule resulted from a collective bargaining agreement with the players and is immune from antitrust scrutiny.
"We believe today's ruling is inconsistent in numerous respects with well-established labor and antitrust law," the league said.
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Three years after high school can be rather ambiguous. If a kid is homeschooled and leaves home at 16, does this mean his could be a 19-year-old in the NFL?
The Teamsters used to have (and may still do) a union rule where no one under 21 could do interstate trucking. While it was legal to be 18 and interstate driving, no insurance carrier would insure the driver to go interstate until 21, so it didn't happen.
If the NFL-NFLPA agreement set a true minimum age instead of a vague "three years after high school", then Clarett would never have had grounds. Given that Upshaw may be more resistent to the change that Clarett represents than even Tagliabue, maybe they need to a have meeting and amend their agreement as such.
If Clarett is present on draft day, he will almost certainly be blackballed the first 2 rounds. When finally drafted, there will be a bullseye on him his whole short career. If he stops this stupidity now, the NFL will welcome him with open arms in 2005. If not, he's be in Canada in 2006.