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Maurice Clarette doomed?

What is this guy thinking?

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/6917406

Quote:

Clarett's lawyers: NFL uses NCAA as free farm system
Dec. 12, 2003
SportsLine.com wire reports

NEW YORK -- Maurice Clarett's lawyers contended Friday that the NFL bars teenagers from playing professional football to perpetuate a free farm system for the league.

The lawyers asked the judge to allow Ohio State's suspended tailback to enter next year's NFL Draft. Clarett sued the NFL this year, challenging the league rule that a player must be out of high school three years to be eligible for the draft.

The league wants the case tossed out. U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin hopes to rule by Feb. 1.

The player's lawyers said in court papers that the NFL supports the NCAA college football system to save the league tens of millions of dollars in development and training.

"College football acts in effect as a minor league, for which the NFL incurs no expenses," the lawyers said. "While major league baseball teams each spend an average of $9 million annually for the minor league system, the NFL teams spend virtually nothing on a player development system."

The court papers called college football "a willing partner in a cozy arrangement as it generates millions of dollars for the colleges without their having to incur the expense of player salaries."

"Players who are otherwise able to compete with the best in their profession must bide their time on the farm working for nothing," the papers said.

Clarett is not eligible for the draft until 2005 under current rules. The NFL, in court papers of its own, said Clarett's lawyers were wrong to assert that blocking Clarett from the draft until 2005 was an unfair restraint of trade.

The league said its market is governed by a contract agreement with a union representing players. The NFL said Clarett's claim amounts "to an allegation that the eligibility rule will enable another player to secure a roster position and compensation that, in plaintiff's view, should be his own."

Ohio State suspended Clarett for the season. He is accused of accepting money from a family friend and lying about it to NCAA and university investigators. He ran for 1,237 yards and led Ohio State to a national championship as a freshman last season.

Is Clarette proving to many NFL teams that he's a troublemaker and a risk, or do they even care considering his talent?

I'm getting tired of these rich athletes thinking they are above the rules/laws, and it's obviously starting to filter down to the amateur ranks. I'd love to see this nipped in the bud as quick as possible, and see the NFL set a precedent and bury this guy so he remains undrafted - costing him millions (hundreds of millions?) of dollars. Force him to come to play for our CFL for pennies, compared to what he could make in the NFL. :D

Re: Maurice Clarette doomed?

Quote:

Originally posted by Baldrick
What is this guy thinking?

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/6917406

Is Clarette proving to many NFL teams that he's a troublemaker and a risk, or do they even care considering his talent?

I'm getting tired of these rich athletes thinking they are above the rules/laws, and it's obviously starting to filter down to the amateur ranks. I'd love to see this nipped in the bud as quick as possible, and see the NFL set a precedent and bury this guy so he remains undrafted - costing him millions (hundreds of millions?) of dollars. Force him to come to play for our CFL for pennies, compared to what he could make in the NFL. :D

I think he has a shot of making into the draft for the next season. Article:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1684775

Quote:

While still fighting vigorously to eliminate the NFL practice of keeping talented young college players from entering the league, Maurice Clarett has found another angle that could get him into the 2004 April draft: The league's own rule.

In papers filed Friday with the U.S. District Court in New York, attorneys for Clarett state that the NFL has been misleading the public, as well as Clarett, about the actual language of the league bylaw that prohibits early entry to many college players.

When the rule was adopted in February 1990, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue issued a press release saying players could enter the draft only after "three full college seasons" had elapsed since their high school graduation. Over the past decade, the notion that players must wait three years has become widely accepted.

However, as noted by Clarett's attorneys, the formal language of Section 12.1(E) of the bylaws is: "For college football players seeking special eligibility, at least three NFL seasons must have elapsed since the player was graduated from high school."

Clarett graduated from high school early, on Dec. 11, 2001. That's eight weeks before the 2001 NFL season concluded, including the playoffs. So if one includes the league's 2001 season along with the 2002 and 2003 seasons, Clarett should be permitted to enter the upcoming draft, his attorneys contend.

"In Clarett's case, he would be ineligible under the press release rule but eligible under the Rule as actually drafted by the NFL," wrote Clarett's four-person legal team led by New Jersey anti-trust lawyer Alan Milstein.

The NFL, in its response before Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, does not dispute the actual language of the bylaw as quoted by Clarett's attorneys. But the league does take issue with the definition of the term "elapsed," which it says means the end of a season that began after a player graduated. Besides, the NFL argues, Tagliabue, as commissioner, has the right to interpret NFL rules in whatever manner he wishes.

"So Mr. Milstein is telling the commissioner that he didn't interpret our own rule correctly," said Greg Aiello, NFL spokesman.

Clarett, who led Ohio State to the national championship as a freshman running back in 2002, sued the NFL in September after Ohio State officials declared him ineligible to play this season for alleged violations of NCAA rules.

His lawsuit contends that the NFL uses the early-entry rule as a way to avoid the farm-system costs that Major League Baseball and other leagues must incur to develop players. It argues that "college football is a willing partner in this cozy arrangement as it generates millions of dollars for the colleges without their having to incur the expense of player salaries.

"Players who are otherwise able to compete with the best in their profession must bide their time on the farm working for nothing," the papers said.

Clarett's lawyers note that no other professional league has such a restrictive rule.

In its most recent motion, the NFL agrees that Clarett, as a running back coveted by pro teams, has been harmed by the league policy. Instead, the league has chosen to argue the case more narrowly on legal precedents in anti-trust law, adding that the use of its salary cap, as collectively bargained by the union, means that the league in this case is exempt from federal law as it speaks to unfair restraint of trade.

"[Clarett] has not alleged, and could not possibly prove that the NFL's eligibility rule has an adverse impact on competition in the relevant market, the market for professional football players' services," the NFL lawyers wrote.

The NFL said Clarett's claim amounts "to an allegation that the eligibility rule will enable another player to secure a roster position and compensation that, in plaintiff's view, should be his own."

Repeating assertions made by NFL offiicials over the year, the league wrote in court papers that the purpose of the rule is to protect young players from the hazards of professional football. To support its argument, the league submitted an affadavit by Dr. Jordan D. Metzl, medical director of the Sports Medicine Institute of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, who suggested that a less restrictive eligibility rule would promote steroid use and other "risky behavior" among young athletes who lack the strength or speed to compete against older, NFL players.

But the NFL also conceded that its rule was not just in place for altrustic reasons. Their league wrote that one reason for the rule was to keep NFL clubs from paying for the costs of injuries while young players are being developed. Unlike top baseball or hockey prospects in a professional minor-league system, college football players rarely have financial assurances if they suffer career-ending injuries -- the exception being those players with special insurance policies.

Clarett's lawyers note that Clarett will be eight weeks shy of his 21st birthday at the start of the 2004 NFL season, and that at the start of last season there were eight players in the league who were 20 years old. Emmitt Smith, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, was 20 when he was drafted in 1990, and "weighs less and is shorter than Clarett," they wrote. At six-feet and 230 pounds, Clarett already is as large or larger than Hall of Famers Walter Payton, Barry Sanders and Gale Sayers were as NFL players.

Compared to the top 20 rushing leaders after the fifth week of the 2003 NFL season, Clarett weighed as much as or more than 17 of them and was as tall or taller than 15 of them.

"The NFL's purported benevolent objective of protecting players from injuries in NFL games is disingenuous," Clarett's lawyers wrote. "The NFL has no eligibility criteria for size, weight, strength, or maturity."

The league, which has told Clarett he is not eligible for the NFL draft until 2005, has asked that the case be tossed out. The judge is expected to rule by Feb. 1, in time for Clarett to begin preparing for the upcoming draft.

G_Lock

What is this guy thinking?

>He knows that his chances of returning to OSU next season are minimal, if not nil. He knows that, barring a return to major college football, his chances of ever playing in the NFL (and the associated millions of $$ he could make there) will continue to dwindle as each passing year goes by. Thus, he his thinking that his best chance to become a pro player and make the big bucks is by getting into the draft asap. I think I'd do the same in his shoes. On the other hand, I would not have been stupid enough to get into the trouble he did, so it would likely not have come up for me.

"Is Clarette proving to many NFL teams that he's a troublemaker and a risk, or do they even care considering his talent?"

if he gets into the 2004 draft, he WILL be drafted by someone, probably a team like Arizona, in likely the mid to late second round. I cant see anyone risking a 1st round pick on him, but hey, stranger things have happened.

"I'm getting tired of these rich athletes thinking they are above the rules/laws, and it's obviously starting to filter down to the amateur ranks. I'd love to see this nipped in the bud as quick as possible, and see the NFL set a precedent and bury this guy so he remains undrafted - costing him millions (hundreds of millions?) of dollars. Force him to come to play for our CFL for pennies, compared to what he could make in the NFL."

First off, since Clarette is NOT (yet) a rich athlete, I dont see what his situation has to do with the kind of things you are talking about here. Granted, I agree with you to a point on how rich/famous people in general (not just athletes) get preferential treatment in way too many situations in this country. However, Clarette (and/or his lawyers) have a strong case with regard to the retraint of trade angle, as well as the bit about the free farm system of college football. It is a corrupt system in many ways and his challenge, imho, is a valid and welcomed one. I hope he succeeds, not because I care if he ever makes it to the pros, but because I hope that by doing so, the system as it stands now will begin to crumble, leading one day to a far more fair and equitable setup, one in which the collegiate athletes can get some reasonable compensation for the risks they take in generating millions upon millions of $$ for their schools.

hell, it might eventally trickle down far enough to get us a real playoff system in Div I ball, instead of the BCS. (ok, now I REALLY am dreaming, lol).

What is he thinking? He somehow thinks he is the greatest running back ever and could even consider entering the NFL in his first year.

Clarett is obviously a trouble maker. He will be drafted by a team, but the factor is which round. Most teams won't even consider Clarett until the third, fourth, or fifth rounds. Teams that are set on running backs or have other needs will most likely look over Clarett and pick up someone they really need.

IF he was getting special treatment, he'd be allowed into the draft. He's not getting treated any better then any other College freshman, who got suspended would be.

This is why the NFL is so good. No one is above the league, and they don't let you forget that. He's not going to get anything special. I'm sure his agent is going to be footing the bill for the lawyer anyway.

and what do they mean no farm system

have we not heard of the nfl europe

his case does not flay with me

Quote:

Originally posted by Sion
First off, since Clarette is NOT (yet) a rich athlete, I dont see what his situation has to do with the kind of things you are talking about here.

He doesn't have to BE a rich athlete to act like one. He knows someday he will be a rich athlete, and in my opinion he got a jump start on the attitude that seems to go with it. If he's this much of a troublemaker now, just wait until he gets his first $8 million signing bonus. :)

You're right, some team like Arizona will probably draft him in the second or third round - because they need to risk a little bit in the hopes that he does become a superstar. But if I had to break out my crystal ball, Clarette is more likely to be the next Lawrence Phillips than the next Barry Sanders. I'm just guessing here, perhaps he will be great, and his attitude takes a complete 360. But if I was a bettin' man...

If I recall (going on memory, this may be incorrect), he could have changed schools, sat out this year of football, and began playing again next year. I really think that would have been the smartest way for him to go about it - since he was obviously sitting this year out anyway.

supreme court turned him down...
does that make him eligable for the suplement in 3 months?

...and with their first pick in the 4th round, the Barcelona Dragons take... Maurice Clarette.
(muted applause)
M. Clarett puts gun in mouth...

Being from Ohio State I just want to say that Maurice Clarett is nothing but a bitch.... I would never watch another OSU game if he was ever allowed on the football team again. First he flunked out, then he makes an a** of himself by trying to get into the NFL. The last seaon he played, he bitched at coaches for playing time which to me signals that hes selfish. I don't like him and I'm glad hes nowhere near OSU anymore and I would be very surprised to see him play football ever again..... if he does make it in the NFL all the power to him but I'm not going to cheer for him, and I hope that the NFL breaks him (figuratively).

Thats all I have to say

IF there's a supplemental draft in the next month or two... then Clarett will probably be in it.

they asked tressel if he thought clarett would be back and he said he seriously doubted it. Maurice had dropped out of classes and unless the NCAA changes their stance on education he does not see anything happening.

Maurice Clarett is making Lawrence Phillips look smart.

Clarett is toast. Even IF an NFL team takes him (which I think is highly doubtful now) the vets that put the years in and played by the system will pound him into the ground and he'll be out by half a season and try to sue for something.

What I am wondering is where is he getting the money for these lawyers. I don't think they are doing this pro-bono or on a contingency. And if they are they are as stupid as he is. Course Micheal Jackson may need a lawyer.

Clarett will end up in some arena league upto his eyes in debt and whatever talent he did have will be wasted by his antics.

Aw well couldn't happen to a nicer guy.