Ohio State's Maurice Clarett Sues NFL

ABC/ESPN Breaking News ^ | September 23, 2003 | staff writer

[rftc]

Suspended Ohio State tailback Maurice Clarett sued the National Football League today in an historic attempt to gain entry into the league.

Under the current rules, Clarett is not eligible for entry until 2005.

[capitan_refugio]

Does the Haywood case apply to the NFL?? Read on ...

"After being named the anchor of the gold-medal 1968 U.S. Olympic basketball Team, Spencer Haywood became known for his exploits on the basketball court. However, looking back at the career of Spencer Haywood an argument can be made that his greatest triumph was not on the basketball court but in the court of law, when he single-handedly took on the draft policies of the National Basketball Association.

"Prior to 1971, the National Basketball Association had a rule that required a graduating high-school player to wait four years before he would become eligible to play in its league. The rule did not expressly state that a player had to attend college or place an age restriction on players entering the NBA, although clearly those were the intentions behind the rule. What the rule did in fact state was that "a player could not make himself available" to be drafted by a NBA team unless he waited fours years following his graduation from high school.

"After competing in the Olympics and signing a contract with the Denver Rockets of the American Basketball Association in 1970, Haywood was drafted by Seattle of the NBA even though four years had not surpassed since his graduation from high school. As a result of Seattle signing Haywood before his college class graduated, the NBA threatened to disallow the contract and implement various punitive sanctions against the Seattle basketball club.

"Haywood challenged this decision by commencing an antitrust action against the NBA that eventual went to the United States Supreme Court in 1971. As part of his claim against the NBA, Haywood argued that the conduct of the NBA was a "group boycott" and a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The central issue that had to be determined was whether the NBA draft policy was a restraint on trade and therefore was illegal in accordance with the Sherman Act.

"The District Court, in Denver Rockets v. All-Pro Management, 325 F. Supp. 1049 (C.D. Calf. 1971) ruled in favor of Haywood and granted an injunction which allowed him to play in the NBA and prohibited the NBA from placing sanctions on Seattle. The District Court ruled in favor of Haywood since it felt that Haywood would suffer irreparable injury and his playing career would be dissipated since his physical skills and co-ordination would deteriorate from lack of high level competition if he was prohibited from continuing to play with the Seattle team.

"Today, the effects of Haywood v. NBA are seem with greater frequency as a significant number of high school graduates and college attendees make themselves eligible for the NBA draft before completing four years in college. Therefore, despite Spencer Haywood's fine career as a professional basketball player, his greatest victory may have in fact come from a different court."

From "Sportslaw History"

I believe that the key element in the case will hinge on whether the NFL's collective bargining agreement, which includes since 1990 language prohibiting players who are "too young," meets the requirements of the anti-trust caselaw. If it does, than Clarett will certainly lose. Furthermore, the NFL's history of barring college-aged players goes back prior to WWII.

[ContemptofCourt]

The CBA does not include such language.

[Dog Gone]

But if no one has ever challenged the rule, then how can we say that it is definitively legal?

If there is no law directly prohibiting it, and no court has made law by ruling it illegal, then it's presumptively legal. To be definitively legal, a court would have had to bless the practice. And I guess we'll find out which way it is in the next couple of years.

This will be an interesting case. However, it would be a lot stronger if a club that wanted to draft Clarett was suing the NFL. He probably faces a pretty good legal challenge that he has no standing to sue.

[Bikers4Bush]

I've made plenty of arguements based on law you just didn't read them.

The fact is that the NFL like any other business has a right to establish a minimum requirement for employment. Be that a high school diploma, college diploma etc.

The fact is that the bargaining agreement only applies to members of the union. If he isn't drafted and isn't signed then he's not a member. Pretty simple.

The NFL as the licensor of the franchises owns and operates the draft. In effect it certifies that the players are eligible to be drafted by and play for a team. Call it pre-screening if you will. Job placement companies do this for corporations all the time. Can I sue them for not letting me interview for a job I wasn't qualified for? Doubt it.

The teams abide by the rules of the NFL. Draft rules, game rules, drug rules, discipline rules, blah, blah, blah.

Jim Brown, different time, different era followed the rules.

Kobe, still a boy and guilty or not got himself in a mess that's hurting the NBA and it's teams in addition to everyone else.

And since we're playing betcha, I betcha that the NFL wins.

[SengirV]

Not only that, are you now saying that the League cannot pick and choose, based on whom they WISH to employ? HR departments nationwide will cringe at that one.

Let me make it simple. Would Clarrett find a spot on a NFL roster if the NFL allowed him to work? YES. Is there something in place in the NFL to prevent him from attempting to attain a roster spot? Yes. Is the NFL preventing him from earning a living in the NFL? Yes. Will Clarrett win his legal battle? Yes.

P.S. for all your buddinski's - Of course I meant earning a living in the NFL. I'm sure you all ALWAYS put the 'for all x != 0' in all of your math problems throughout school. SHEEZZZ!!

[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)

[rftc]

lol! Has been an eventful year on and off the field at OSU..

[ContemptofCourt]

Good grief....the NFL is not like "any other business"...it is a monopoly, and it can not set forth one good reason for it "minimum requirement". And neither can you.

The NFL will not pursue this case....it will let Clarett play through the supplemental draft, just like Cris Carter.

[capitan_refugio]

Yes and no. The CBA contains language that says (in so many words), that the union and the league will abide by league rules during the player draft. See the attached quotes from an NFL spokesman:

"The NFL won't discuss its arguments unless Clarett sued, league spokesman Greg Aiello said. Still, he defended the regulation.

"The draft is part of our collective bargaining agreement and the eligibility rule has been the subject of collective bargaining discussions," he said.

Asked Sunday if he thought, as a lawyer, that the NFL could win a lawsuit, Tagliabue replied: "My feeling as commissioner is that we have a very strong case and that we'll win it."

[Rad_J]

Did I mis something or are the NFL's rules in the founding documents of our nation?

My point is how can the minimum age requirement be unconstitutional if the constitution itself has minimum age requirements? Why 35 years old? Is it really that different from 30 or 40?

Also, the NFL has some wiggle room because people normally can graduate from high school at age 17, 18, or 19. There are also exceptions where people can graduate from high school at a much earlier age. But then what about the person who doesn't graduate until he is 25. Is he inelligible until he is 28? So, the rule is not even a set age.

[ContemptofCourt]

Let me tell you, based upon my experience as a lawyer, if an NFL lawyer gets up in front of a judge and says "Judge, it is not in the CBA, but we talked about it," the judge is going to be pissing his pants laughing.

[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.

[anniegetyourgun]

The stuff heart attacks are made of.

[capitan_refugio]

Good thing the Judge has a robe on! ;^)

[smith288]

The NFL will not pursue this case....it will let Clarett play through the supplemental draft, just like Cris Carter.

Not so. Both the NFL and the players union are united in this case. They have stated they will put all resources into protecting themselves.

[sandydipper]

The criminal complaint says that he falsely reported over a $1000.00 in merchandise stolen from his car. A felony.

Musta needed more money than the alumni assc. was paying him.

[rftc]

Because that is for a position to head our seat of Government, not carry a football down a field..

[mhking]

The criminal complaint says that he falsely reported over a $1000.00 in merchandise stolen from his car. A felony.

If he's guilty, then yep...put him in jail. But if it's just a complaint, then the justice system needs to do it's work. Even @$$holes deserve proper justice.

[CELTICGAEL (Celt)]

You need to read up on it sandydipper....there WAS NO alumni assc. paying him!!!

[Rad_J]

yeah, but the guy carrying the football makes tons more money, has more fans, and a higher approval rating, and more people watch him than watch the president speak.

So, are you saying that the government can use minimum age requirements while telling a private corporation that it can't use minimum age requirements?

How many government schools use minimum age requirements for starting kindergarten? My 3 year old cannot attend school even if he can read and is smarter than all of the 7 year olds.

The government also sets minimum age requirements on social security. Sure there are exceptions, but everybody else has to wait until they are old enough to get the money.

Can I sue the government to allow my 3 year old to go to school? Can I sue the government to force them to pay me social security because I could really use the money? It sure would be nice if my 14 year old could drive and run errands for me, but he doesn't meat the minimum age requirement either.

How dare Leagues set a minimum age requirement in pro sports! Only the government gets to do that sort of thing.