Judge Rules in Favor of Clarett

Bucknuts.com ^ | 2/5/2004 | By Bucknuts.com Staff

[smith288]

Maurice Clarett (Getty Images)		Judge Rules In Favor Of Clarett By Bucknuts.com Staff   Date: Feb 5, 2004 U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin has ruled that the NFL Draft rule regarding early entry violates anti-trust laws and has ordered the NFL to allow Maurice Clarett into this year's NFL draft.
The AP reports that U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin has ruled in favor of Maurice Clarett in his case against the NFL and that the NFL must allow him to enter this year's draft. Clarett brought a suit against the NFL, asking that its rule requiring a player to have spent three seasons out of high school before becoming eligible to enter the draft be overturned. U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin ruled in favor of Clarett, stating "The NFL has not justified Clarett's exclusion by demonstrating that the rule enhances competition. Indeed, Clarett has alleged the very type of injury -- a complete bar to entry into the market for this services -- that the antitrust laws are designed to prevent." The 20-year-old Clarett was the subject of an ESPN.com expose on Wednesday for his ties to a known gambler, Warren, Ohio, caterer Bobby Dellumuti, who also provided Clarett with illegal extra benefits. Those benefits, reportedly totaling $3,800, as well as his lies to NCAA investigators led Ohio State and the NCAA to suspend Clarett, a preseason Heisman Trophy favorite, for the 2003 season. He now faces a decision on whether to formally enter his name in the 2004 draft. All indications are he will do that, although he maintained several times during the legal process his desire to return to OSU this season. For him to return, OSU would need to petition the NCAA on his behalf. There are no certainties he would regain full eligibility, either. Clarett sued the NFL last summer to challenge a league rule that a player must be out of high school three years for draft eligibility. The judge's ruling, if it is not successfully appealed, could allow teen-age football stars to take advantage of the marketing and business opportunities available to young athletes in other sports. In trying to maintain the status quo, the NFL argued that Clarett should not be eligible because its rule resulted from a collective bargaining agreement with the players. Hence, the rule is immune from antitrust scrutiny, because Clarett cannot bring such a lawsuit and because its rule is reasonable. "While, ordinarily, the best offense is a good defense, none of these defenses hold the line," the judge opined in a 70-page ruling. Scheindlin sided with Clarett because he was fighting a policy that excludes all players in his position from selling their services to the only viable buyer, the NFL. The judge said that "age is obviously a poor proxy for NFL-readiness, as is restriction based solely on height or weight." The NFL was preparing a statement to respond to the ruling. It was unclear if and when the league would initiate appeals proceedings. It was also unclear what impact such appeals may have on Clarett's ability to enter this year's draft. John Langel, a lawyer for Clarett, told the AP he was "obvious pleased" and praised the ruling as "incredibly well written and thorough and touching on all issues the parties addressed." Clarett rushed for 1,237 yards and led Ohio State to a national championship as a freshman in 2002.

[byu-fan]

Does the CFL pay their players? If so then they are a viable alternative.

Can the Canadian Football League or the European Football League be a consideration as to whether there is a market for a United States citizen to peddle his wares under an analysis of the United States antitrust laws? I'm not sure international alternatives protect a national cartel from antitrust liability.

[pogo101]

Dunno about the law applied here, but as an OSU fan I say Good riddance. He may wise up someday, but it won't be while he's wearing the Scarlet and Gray.

[Petronski]

*cough* Lawrence Phillips *cough*

LOL. He's fallen so far, I had to look him up. Heh heh heh.

[Dog Gone]

Presumably the NFL will appeal. That keeps Clarett from being in the draft this year, absent some very unusual motion being granted.

By the time the case is finally decided, he probably would have been eligible for the draft anyway.

[humboldtconservative]

The rule is somewhat goofy in that a 15 yr old scholar who graduates early from High School can enter a draft but a 20 yr old soph in college cannot.

Incorrect. You can enter the draft 3 years after your CLASS graduates. Not, when you actually graduated High School. This is evidenced by the league allowing Larry Fitzgerald to enter this year's draft. Fitzgerald left his first school halfway through his senior year to attend another school and raise his grades. He attended the other school for 1-1/2 years, thus giving him 5 years of high school. He then played for two years at University of Pittsburgh. Therefore, his graduating class has been out of high school fore three years.

Even if the 15 year old scholar graduated COLLEGE before his high school class graduates, he still has to wait the three years.

[smith288]

Incorrect. You can enter the draft 3 years after your CLASS graduates.

I stand corrected. (I know, I know, it takes a big man to admit when he is wrong.... heh)

[Poodlebrain]

The NFL Draft was declareds an anti-trust violation back in the 1970's I believe. However, the NFL Players Association negotiated a collective bargaining agreement that traded away free agency rights for the players for some other benefits, and the NFL Draft was restored.

The NFL has to my knowledge lost every anti-trust case filed against it. The really weird case was the Donald Trump League case in which the jury awarded the other league $1 of damages that was tripled to $3 despite finding that the NFL violated anti-trust laws.

[LenS]

Since the CFL is not in the USA, that's not a legal option. I've always wondered why pro sports drafts survive legally. Imagine the uproar if every doctor or lawyer or accountant was told that his rights had been exclusively assigned to one company without his input. And that if he wanted to work in his chosen field, that he'd have to sign with just that one firm in only one city. And that his only options was to sit out for a year and get redrafted by another single firm or to leave the country.

[LenS]

College isn't always necessary. This year when the Eagle's All-Pro Safety Brian Dawkins was hurt, his backup filled in quite nicely for him. His backup was a free agent who had never played college football. Instead, he'd made the Arena League and gotten their attention. I also recall Eric Swann, a Defensive Tackle for the Cardinals, who made the league after playing only semi-pro (his academics were horrific so college wasn't really an option).

Though, to be honest, the NFL might try to ban him based on the gambling connection.

[jz638]

*cough* Lawrence Phillips *cough*

My sentiments exactly.

[supercat]

By the time the case is finally decided, he probably would have been eligible for the draft anyway.

Shades of Marbury v. Madison.

[connectthedots]

The really weird case was the Donald Trump League case in which the jury awarded the other league $1 of damages that was tripled to $3 despite finding that the NFL violated anti-trust laws.

Trump is an easy guy to not like.

[AbsoluteJustice]

"Oh, I also think Clarett is going to have a very rough time in the NFL. He's just not developed enough."

HUH?
Not developed enough?

This guys is a specimen!
A horse!
His freshman year he played in just abour all but 1 game and 3 or 4 of those games he played until halftime because he had already passed 150 yards for the game. He was near the top of college in rushing and if left in those games this man would have been the leading rusher. He was the crucial and central player that won Ohio State the National Championship and he wont make it in the NFL? Hogwash. I doubt the NFL is ready for a running back like this.

[Tallguy]

This guys is a specimen! A horse! His freshman year he played in just abour all but 1 game and 3 or 4 of those games he played until halftime because he had already passed 150 yards for the game. He was near the top of college in rushing and if left in those games this man would have been the leading rusher.

Same things applied to Penn State's Ki-Jana Carter. A supersonic tailback who seldom played beyond halftime on the undefeated & #2 ranked (behind Nebraska) '94 team. He blew his knee out in the first preseason game as a pro (Bengals) attempting to turn a swing pass upfield. Freak accident? Perhaps. But it would have been nice to see him take more snaps his senior year so that we could evaluate his durability.

The perception of Clarett is that he's brittle. That will hurt his draft position as much has the other stuff.

[Petronski]

HUH? Not developed enough? This guy is a specimen!

He's very well-developed for a college sophomore, playing other college students. But in the pros he's underdeveloped. This is according to NFL players, not me. But we shall see.

[freeangel]

Then he we will be hearing of a suit that claims that the NFL, the judge who allowed him to play, and his former attorneys should have known he was not mature enough to play and were the cause of his injuries that will keep him from making megadollars.

[PattonReincarnated]

>> This is going to ruin the NFL.
>> Just look at the NBA.

The NFL is already ruined.

[Thebaddog]

He's a punk. It won't be an injury that prevents him from being a great player.

[freeangel]

But mark my words, he'll try to blame someone in court.

[mark502inf]

He was the crucial and central player that won Ohio State the National Championship and he wont make it in the NFL?

Face facts--it was an incredibly down year for college football or else the buckeys never could have won the national championship. It was a one in a million fluke when they beat Michigan and then they beat a weak Miami team from the weakest conference in major college football, the so-called "Big" East. I predict Clarett will have less NFL success than the last "big-time" buckey running back--Archie Grifin.

And btw, what a typical buckey name that is. Maurice. That'll sound good though when he gets cut from the NFL and opens his hair and nails salon in Columbus; "Stylin' with Maurice"--a good place for the buckey linemen to hang out and commiserate after Michigan blows them out of the Horseshoe yet again.