Wayne Gretzky turned professional at 17. Fred Chapman went pro as a pitcher at the age of 14 in 1887. Joe Nuxhall became the youngest Major League Baseball player of the past century when he turned pro at age 15 in 1944. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett and others have made the jump from high school to the NBA as teenagers in the past decade. Freddy Adu signed a contract to play major league soccer at the age of 14 in November. Michelle Wie has used sponsors' exemptions to get around age requirements to compete in the LPGA tour. Now, Maurice Clarett is challenging the National Football League rules which could open the floodgates for younger players to enter professional football.
In 1990, as a result of the collective bargaining agreement, the NFL instituted a rule stating that all players entering the draft must be out of high school for at least three years. At the beginning of the month, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin declared that an NFL rule barring eligibility violates anti-trust law and "must be sacked." Scheindlin ruled that the evidence was so much in Clarett's favor that a trial was unnecessary. The NFL plans to appeal, and will probably try to at least get an injunction before the April NFL draft.
But even though they plan to appeal this case, the NFL does not seem like they think they can win it. A day after the Clarett ruling came down, the NFL set a March 1st deadline for those not previously included in draft eligibility. Although this ruling may not open the proverbial floodgates for high school graduates and underclassmen to rush to the NFL, the effects are not really known just yet.
One of the joys of watching college basketball used to be that you could watch a player develop over four years from a freshman to a senior and then watch him go to the NBA. But a 1970 ruling by the Supreme Court, allowed Spencer Haywood to enter the NBA early and opened the floodgates for not only players such as Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan to leave early from college, but has allowed the high school graduates of today to enter the NBA. Those same anti-trust laws that were violated back then, were ruled to have been violated by the NFL at this current juncture.
Pittsburgh sophomore Larry Fitzgerald may be one of the players greatly benefited by this ruling. Fitzgerald, a wide receiver and Heisman Trophy contender, may attempt to enter the NFL draft after this season.
But will Clarett, Fitzgerald and other early entries be able to compete in the NFL? Most players, coaches and sportswriters think that they will crash and burn. Football is definitely the most physical professional sport and all of these players have bodies that have not totally developed. Skills, stamina and mental toughness are other intangibles that can only be learned after four years in college. Clarett may be a late second round pick; how important is it to come out early from college to become a late second round pick?
For Clarett, it may be very important after he has totally alienated his Ohio State team and made it clear there is no chance he would return to college. Not that he really deserves to. He failed a gym class for goodness sakes. How lazy and dumb do you have to be to be an NFL caliber running back and fail physical education? That, plus the recent revelation he runs with the wrong crowd (no pun intended), may not be the type of publicity that a running back who hasn't played competitive football in a very long time would want going into the draft.
If he does enter the draft, Clarett will either be a huge bust and a warning to other early entries, or Clarett will succeed, giving numerous college underclassment hope that they can succeed in the NFL. Players who feel their value is high enough to make millions in the NFL will forgo the risk of getting injured in college and losing all that money and go straight to the draft. Clarett will be the first of these players.
I really do hope that he fails miserably. It is so tough to root for a college basketball team when the players leave really early for the NBA. I am not a huge fan of college football (being at a school where IM football makes the front pages of the newspaper and college football is a story that is told from one student to another as they walk past the pictures in the hallway of Gosman) but for anyone who is, the joy of watching a player develop and become a big-time quarterback will be totally lost. With the amount of busts that occur annually like clockwork in the NBA, MLB and NHL because of players either not going to college, leaving college too early or being pushed too quickly by professional coaches, it would be a shame to see the same thing happen to the NFL.
NBA teams waste many early picks on hyped-up high schoolers who end up being nothing. Major League Baseball has seen many prospects who are touted as saviors for their teams turn out to be busts, some because they cannot handle it mentally (see Rick Ankiel), some because they injure themselves pitching too much, too early (see Kris Benson and Ben Sheets) or some because their stuff doesn't translate to major leagues (see Hideki Irabu).
The NHL has so many players that just fall by the wayside, although the refined minor league system and the influx of players from expansion has helped out in this venture.
Hopefully, NFL teams will learn from this example. The NFL and NBA both lack the minor leagues that baseball and the NHL have to provide time for players to develop. Ryan Leaf should be the first example of why teams should not be quick to draft guys that may not be ready for the NFL. The NFL requires players to play in numerous preseason games, 16 regular season games and numerous playoff games in order to win a championship. Without the endurance that one acquires through development and training on the college level, early entries to the NFL draft will be left without necessary skills needed to compete on the higher level.
With early entries to the NFL draft, many more injuries and busts will occur with young players. No longer will the thrill of seeing a Payton Manning or Ricky Williams playing for four years at college be possible. No longer will the NFL be the exception to the rule. No longer will bowl games be flooded with talented players because they have left early for the NFL. Players will build up their stock enough in one season, like Carmello Anthony did in Syracuse, and then jump ship to the pros. Is that fair for Syracuse fans and players? Even though they won a championship, should they not have the opportunity to win another one or even three more with Anthony leading that team? Should college basketball not have dynasties and hard-fought rivalries again? Let Maurice Clarett be the example, and the not the exception that keeps younger players in college a little longer.