Off Wing Opinion

Over the weekend, my online friend and unofficial Off Wing anti-trust lawyer, Skip Oliva, noted that my little corner of the Web ought to be called the "Unofficial blog of the Maurice Clarett case." He wasn't the only one to link to one of our posts on the subject, so I thought it was time to parse the issue further, and clarify some of the questions I have.

Q: Does Maurice Clarett have a right to enter the NFL Draft?

A: Last time I looked, this right wasn't clearly enumerated by the Constitution. And, as both Skip Oliva and Ben Domenech have noted, we also have to consider the right of the NFL to determine its own hiring policies without government interference.

As Thomas Crown noted in a comment at Ben's blog:

I'm pretty sure there's no antitrust violation, no unfair competition violation, and no restraint of trade violation. He wants to go play football until he's three years removed from high school graduation, he can go to the Arena League. In a year and a half, he can enter the NFL draft. This would be like me complaining because I wanted to work for Skadden Arps (I didn't), and they wouldn't let me -- even though I had numerous other avenues to work.

Looks like the young Mr. Clarett doesn't have a leg to stand on? Then again, why are so many folks standing up (I'll concede at times reflexively and without much forethought) and supporting Clarett's case? Read on.

A few thoughts from yesterday's Ravens-Chiefs game I attended in Baltimore yesterday:

Overall, the game most reminded me of the Ravens' 1999 season, the one immediately before their run to the Super Bowl in 2000: the team then fielded a stifling defense that was let down more often than not by a sputtering, and mistake-prone offense.

Ravens quarterback Kyle Boller was intercepted three times on Sunday -- twice on post patterns in the end zone, and the third time on the Ravens' last offensive play of the game. The common thread between all three: each pass was an overthrown lollipop. Had Boller taken a little off the ball on any of the three throws, he probably would have gotten at least one completion -- especially on the two balls he threw to tight end Todd Heap. Isolating Heap on a cornerback has been a regular part of the Ravens game plan since he broke into the league, especially since it allows him to get into a jump ball contest with smaller cornerbacks.

Then again, on Sunday, Wilt Chamberlain would have been hard-pressed to come down with any of Boller's moon shots. But the fault certainly didn't lie with Boller alone. Outside of Heap, the Ravens didn't have one receiver that actually earned his paycheck. Time and again, Boller was frustrated simply because neither Travis Taylor, Frank Sanders, nor Marcus Robinson could manage to get open consistently.

My seats at the stadium are in the North End Zone, and one of the best views you get of the game is when the offense is moving away from you. From that vantage point, you really get a good sense of how complex the Kansas City offense is. In turn, you also got a real sense of how basic the Baltimore offense is.

Case in point: on more than a few occasions, it wasn't uncommon to lose a sense of where the ball was, and where the play was flowing when Kansas City was on the field. Sometimes it was only for a moment. At others, I was completely confused, and sometimes lost track of the ball carrier until he was several yards down field (a 26 yard gain on a Johnny Morton end around in the third quarter being a case in point).

By halftime, it was easy to understand that there was a lot more to the Kansas City offense than just all-world running back Priest Holmes. Sure, he's supremely talented, but head coach Dick Vermeil has far more going on in terms of motion both before and after the snap than just about every other team in the league. For a number of stretches, they were simply frustrating to watch -- and I can only imagine what it's like to play against them.

Baltimore's offense, by contrast, was all too predictable. Not only was it easy to follow how their offensive plays were developing, head coach Brian Billick's play calling was easy to anticipate -- something which makes running back Jamal Lewis' success with the team all the more amazing. Now in his fifth year in Baltimore, perhaps it's time to retire the Billick's reputation as an offensive genius.

But it's on the defensive side of the ball where Baltimore is once again one of the league's elite units. Yes, Ray Lewis remains the heart and soul of the team with the defense on the field, but credit needs to be given to Ravens Vice President and General Manager Ozzie Newsome, who continually finds talent deep in the draft that makes an impact on the field, even as retirements (Tony Siragusa, Mike McCrary) and free agency (Sam Adams and Kim Herring, among others) depleted the talent on the field.

That defense that kept Kansas City sputtering all game long, especially in the first half when the Chiefs dominated the ball, but could only put three points on the board. In the end, an offsides call on a kickoff that resulted in a re-kick and a touchdown, combined with a fumbled punt, undermined an incredible defensive performance.

The heart of the NFL legal argument against ex-Ohio State runningback Maurice Clarett rests on a portion of the collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association that prohibits a player from entering the draft until three years after his high school class graduated. But as Dave Anderson of the New York Times notes:

But two years before that 1993 agreement was signed, Eric Swann, a 300-pound defensive lineman who had been out of high school in Lillington, N.C., for only two years, was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals with the sixth pick in the first round of the 1991 draft.

Swann, who never enrolled in college, had been playing semipro football for the Bay State Titans, according to the Cardinals media guide, while lugging pipe for an electric company and running errands for a restaurant.

The three-year rule had been inserted in the N.F.L. constitution in 1990, but when Swann's eligibility for the draft developed in 1991, the N.F.L. was involved in other legal cases, notably those involving Freeman McNeil and Marvin Powell. It chose to ignore Swann's situation. Despite chronic knee injuries, Swann, a Pro Bowl alternate in 1993, endured for a decade with the Cardinals and the Carolina Panthers.

The N.F.L. will argue that Swann's arrival predated the 1993 collective bargaining agreement, but it remains a precedent that could haunt the league in the Clarett case. Why is the three-year rule so vital now, the judge may want to know, when Swann was out of high school for only two years when he was drafted?

The answer to that question is that Swann, a giant at 6'5" and over 300 pounds, was cleary ready physically for the rigors of NFL football. That, and not the three-year rule, should be the only determinant as to whether or not somebody should be in the NFL. And the only way to ensure that, is to protect a player's right to try, and fail, to make it in the big time.

I had completely forgotten about Swann, whose arrival in the NFL kicked up a lot of dust in the media back in 1993. But at the time, I can't recall any issue ever being made about his draft status at all. Kudos to Anderson for digging up what has to be an embarassing piece of old news for the NFL.

Emmitt Smith steps up on the Maurice Clarett suit against the NFL:

"I think a man does have an opportunity to earn a living and shouldn't be restricted," Smith said Thursday after the Arizona Cardinals practice. "To be honest with you, I think the NCAA has a great racket going, and you can print that one."

The suspended Ohio State running back sued the NFL this week, asking a judge to throw out a rule that prevents him from entering the draft until he has been out of high school for three years.

"He's a great talent. He's young. He feels like he should do it," Smith said. "Why should he be restricted?"

Looks like Commissioner Tagliabue's pre-approved talking points have yet to be distributed. Funny, but as I recall, the rules that prevent Clarett from entering next Spring's NFL Draft were agreed upon by the NFL and the NFL Players Association -- which the last time I checked, Smith was still a member of.

Skip Oliva adds a few other pertinent thoughts.

In Cleveland, the Kelly Holcomb experiment is over, and former number one draft pick Tim Couch is the starter again.

Lawyer Alan Milstein on Maurice Clarett's law suit against the NFL:

"I see Maurice's case as a league trying to make certain players, young players, who are often poor, wait on earning a living, while the N.F.L. and colleges, either directly or indirectly, make millions off of them," Milstein said. "To me, his situation is about another huge entity trying to take advantage of a smaller group of people who don't necessarily have powerful voices themselves."

Here's the text of Clarett's complaint against the NFL.

As I've said before, I understand that the law is most likely on the side of the NFL. I also understand that maintaining the current feeder system that exists between the NCAA and the NFL is in the best interests of both parties. And in most cases, staying in school for at least three years is probably in the best interest of the majority of college athletes who aspire to a career in professional football as well.

But what I cannot get over, is the singular fact that athletes in many other sports regularly turn professional before their 18th birthdays. Here in North America, we've been conditioned to simply shrug when we see teenage girls become instant millionaires after stepping of the balance beam, ice rink, or tennis court.

In Europe, professional soccer teams regularly sign boys before their 18th birthday, and most maintain a feeder system of players that can include local pre-teens who aspire to one day don their kits as professionals. In Canada, parents enthusiastically ship their sons across the country in their early teens to play major junior hockey -- a de facto professional league that is acknowledged as the best path to the NHL.

Are the young men who play college football any less professional than their counterparts in the minor leagues of any other sport? I don't think so, and the rules and regulations governing their conduct ought to be radically changed to acknowledge that fact.

At bottom, college football players at larger institutions essentially function as full time employees, albeit ones charged with the responsibility of representing their institution and helping to raise its public profile. It's far past time that their work as professionals be recognized by the rules of the NCAA, and the rule of law as well.

UPDATE: As if the NCAA didn't have enough to do, now they're investigating Grambling for possibly tampering with Clarett. NCAA rules, this one is all about protecting schools from one another, not protecting the athlete. And since Ohio State was in the midst of throwing Clarret off campus anyway, I have to wonder what the big deal is.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Here's Keyshawn Johnson's take on Clarett's troubles:

Johnson said if Clarett, 19, is talented enough to play in the NFL, there's no logical or legal basis to keep him out of next year's draft.

"Whatever the case is, you shouldn't say that he can't play professionally, if he's capable of playing professionally," Johnson said. "If he wants to come out, he should come out."

But if Johnson were an NFL general manager, he would not draft Clarett because of character issues.

"For me, he has too many red flags already," Johnson said Wednesday at One Buc Place. "The lying, the stealing

What part of "No Parking," does Florida State quarterback Chris Rix not understand?

Florida State quarterback Chris Rix was ticketed again Tuesday for a parking violation, this time for leaving his vehicle in a spot reserved for patients at the school's regional rehabilitation center, university police said.

Rix was ticketed last week for parking in a handicapped-only spot and was fined $100. Tuesday's offense, which will cost Rix $20, was reported by a student who took several photos of Rix's vehicle, university officials said.

"We have no explanation," vice president for university relations Lee Hinkle said. "Ask Chris Rix."

In a way, a story like this is a little unfair. Folks get tickets all the time for offenses great and small, and we never hear about it (and thank God for that -- EMc). Then again, two in a row like this for the same offense indicates carelessness and immaturity -- not a surprise for your typical twenty-something college kid.

Maurice Clarett is going to court to challenge the rules governing the NFL draft:

Under the league's current rules, Clarett, a sophomore, would not be eligible to play in the NFL until three years after his high school class graduated. That would make him eligible for the 2005 season, not next year.

Attorney Alan Milstein met with NFL officials in Washington on Monday night and informed them of his plan to file the lawsuit in Southern District Court in New York, where the NFL has its headquarters. The suit also is seeking unspecified damages.

"Maurice just doesn't have the options that other college students have because of what's going on at Ohio State," Milstein said Tuesday morning. "He has to do this in order to use his skills to play football as his livelihood. The next step is to wait for the league's answer and then get it in front of a judge."

We had an extensive discussion regarding this issue only a few weeks ago, with reader Skip Oliva shedding some valuable light on the legal details involved.

According to Skip, despite the fact that a number of athletes in other sports have managed to force leagues to admit "underage" players, the peculiarities of the labor agreement between the NFL and the NFL Players Association seems to have the law on its side. Again, take the time to read Skip's reasoned argument in my previous post, and the issue will become pretty clear.

UPDATE: Here's a complete set of coverage from USA Today. An online poll that asks if the NFL should alter its draft rules, is running better than 72 percent against.

Spencer Haywood, who challenged the NBA and won in 1971, says Clarret ought to stay in school:

"If he had a choice, I would advise Clarett to stick it out (in school)," Haywood said. "First thing is, I think those guys will hit that kid so hard that they'll break him up. But I just think, don't tamper with everything now. Let football stay pure and clean. Don't let it come down like basketball. We're dropping in ratings and attendance.

"People don't want to come out and see this stuff."

Looks like a sound business judgement to me. Whether or not the courts will agree is another matter entirely.

You've probably never heard of Don Weiss, but Dave Anderson of the New York Times has, and knows why you should remember him now.

Did it seem like the Raiders were aging before our eyes in Denver last night? I have to say it's been a while since I've seen a professional defense so thoroughly flummoxed by a quarterback bootleg, as the Raiders were near the end of the first quarter by Jake Plummer.

Could Rich Gannon's career be as over as it seemed in the fourth quarter, when Raiders coach Bill Callahan lifted the veteran quarterback in favor of Marques Tuiasosopo?

Marques Tuiasosopo?

CORRECTION: Thanks to Josj Heit for pointing out the spelling mistake.