[Bikers4Bush]

This will be the first court beating he takes.

Followed by his lawsuit against OSU.

The league has the right to establish minimum requirements.

[r9etb]

Surprise, surprise, surprise.

I hope this gets tossed out with prejudice. It probably won't, of course.

[Semper Paratus]

Don't think this has yet been challenged in court.
If he wins it could be the end of the salad days of the NFL.

[misterrob]

The question is, is the NFL practicing a form of age discrimination against him? I think they are and they are also, in fact, limiting his right to earn a living. They may claim that they want to "protect" him but to me that sounnds like BS. Him bypassing the NCAA will result in the weakening of college football which is nothing but a farm system for the NFL. Him getting to the NFL early means that fewer jobs are available which means expansion and/or dilution of the league.

On the other hand, are you willing as a coach or owner to waste a high draft pick on a kid with his history?

[jonalvy44]

See Spencer Haywood. He sued the NBA, now the gates are open. I'm thinking about submitting my 14 yr old daughter's name for the draft next year...we need some cash. haha

[mhking]

Funny enough, the judge who has drawn the case is legendary OSU coach Woody Hayes' son.

Black conservative ping

If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)

Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.

---

[As i mentioned, the B/C & JD! lists are going to float into and out of whack over the forseeable future, while I try to cobble a rig back together for myself. My apologies for any incovenience or misunderstandings in this time frame. New signups/removals may be flaky in this time-frame as well; please bear with me, and keep in mind you may have to FReemail me more than once for me to get it done. Thanks again!]

[Orangedog]

Friggin' marvelous! Local talk radio will be worthless with buckeye BS all week instead of just the day before and after the next game.

[smith288]

Dont blame OSU... Tressel tried to help this guy. Tressel was betrayed by Clarett and Claretts moms greed.

[sandydipper]

Oh puhleezzee - This S/H should be in jail not the NFL.

[Solson]

If Clarett was gay...he might win this case. he's not and he'll lose.

[Rad_J]

I have a right as a citizen of the US to earn a living as President of the United States!

I want to run for President but the US government uses age discrimination against me because I am under 30.

It is simply unconstitutional to discriminate against any adult citizen who wants to run for president before they are 35 years old.

I have to have been born in America to be President? What!?!?
That's racist! That's anti-immigrant! That's unconstitutional!!!!

WHAAAAA WHAAAAA WHAAAAA!!!!

[y2k_free_radical]

STILL ANOTHER LAWYER BUMP

[SengirV]

Kiss the NFL as we know it good bye. Clarrett will win, and there is nothing the NFL can do about it. The last thing the NFL wants is for it's dirty monopoly laundry in full display in open court. They are refusing a grown man the right to earn a living. It doesn't get any simpler than that. The NFL/NCAA has been riding the gravy train on this issue for decades, now it's time to pay the clarrett piper.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I knew it was coming. If the owners were smart, they'd lock his ass out completely. Let him go to the CFL or the European leagues.

[Pagey]

This guy still hasn't admitted that his actions were illegal.What a Dumb_ss. Some people are so full of themselves, they can never win and this guy just keeps digging his hole deeper.LOL (Really Loud)

[kinghorse]

Think beyond the individual. Think of him as an entity, a money making enterprise and you start to see the stance taken by the NFL is unconstitutional. They are attempting to unfairly restrict trade. This guy has a shelf life. He's no different from Britney Spears in that regard. I've heard all the subjective arguments but the bottomline is he is an industry unto himself and to deny that industry the right to sell it's product is an unfair restraint of trade.

No one doubts the NFL will lose this if and when someone sacrifices their career in order to be the trailblazer. This is because the NFL's strategy has always been to wait em out. Drag out the court proceedings so long that the player eventually folds due to that shelf life issue.

[.cnI redruM]

The rule Clarett is trying to get thrown out also has a medical basis. It has to do with the spinal development. When younger men play against 24-27 yr olds in top physical shape, they have a greater chance of getting Darryl Stinglied.

If I were the NFL, I'd be really hard-core about it and make him sign a waiver saying that if his neck snapped, the expenses come out of his own pocket. If he assumes the risk, God bless him and suit him up.

[Alberta's Child]

I would be interested to get a lawyer's take on this case, but after discussing this on a different thread last week there are a few things that I think are worth noting:

1. In my opinion, the NFL's "three years out of high school" regulation cannot stand up under legal scrutiny. The problem here is that the regulation does not accurately correlate to any rationale they might present (the safety of a young player, for example). If a young kid misses two years of school due to illness or something like that (or because he is just not very smart at all), then he may be finishing high school at the age of 19. According to the NFL's rules, this kid would not be able to play in the NFL until he is 22 years old, which is two years later than other "normal" players would be eligible. Conversely, a bright young kid who was somehow able to finish high school by the age of 12 would be eligible to play in the NFL at the age of 15.

2. Any terms of the league's collective bargaining agreement would be irrelevant in this case, since the CBA clearly cannot apply to players who are not members of the NFL Players' Association.

3. There are actually two separate issues here, related to the same case -- a.) whether the NFL's restrictions represent restraint of trade from Clarett's perspective, and b.) whether the NFL's restrictions represent a restraint of trade from any one team's perspective. Clarett's best legal strategy here is to make the case that an individual NFL team should at least have the option to draft him.

4. In this case, the NFL should not be considered an "employer" in any sense. Individual teams are employers -- the league itself is not. The only evidence you would need to confirm this would be a player's income tax return. The teams themselves pay the players, as well as any of the costs associated with paying them (FICA taxes and other payroll taxes, for example). The NFL isn't exactly a "franchise" company like McDonald's, either -- it actually functions more like a "pro football cartel" than anything else.

5. Anyone who is certain that the U.S. courts would side with the NFL in this case should go back and do some research on the infamous "collusion" case involving a bunch of Major League Baseball players in the 1980s who successfully sued MLB on the grounds that a group of owners conspired to refuse to tend offers to them when they were free agents. Interestingly, this represents an interesting potential future legal action against the NFL if Clarett is actually declared eligible for the draft but is not selected.

6. Regarding #5, he would never go undrafted anyway -- Al Davis would select him.

[kabar]

The NFL has been using the NCAA as its private, cost free farm system. I hope Clarett wins. There is no reason why an 18 year old who can fight and die for his country cannot also earn a living in the NFL. Forcing people to attend college before they can play in the NFL is a farce.

[JonH]

Today is the first day of the fall quarter at OSU.

It will be interesting to see if Maurice shows up for classes.

I would bet he is a no show and that is a shame!