[ OUR OPINION ]
Restricting jump from
prep to NFL wasn’t fairCONSTRAINTS against younger football players turning professional have been lifted by a federal judge in New York, but don't look for a teenage blitz on the National Football League. Most young athletes eyeing careers in the NFL lack the physical maturity to attract the large bonuses that will become available to those patient enough to wait for a better opportunity. The rule was properly stricken as a restraint of trade, but the consequences are likely to be small.
THE ISSUE
A federal judge has ruled that the NFL's restriction against younger players entering its draft violated antitrust laws.
District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin's ruling in the case of Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett vs. the NFL is certain to dominate Aloha Stadium sideline chatter at today's Pro Bowl. However, any concern that the all-stars or their teammates will be upstaged by a galaxy of young Goliaths is unwarranted.
The ruling merely brings the NFL into line with professional baseball, basketball and hockey. The National Basketball Association's top draft choice last year was high school phenomenon LeBron James, now starring for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Carl English, the University of Hawaii's leading scorer last season, opted out of his final year of eligibility -- he already had his college degree in hand -- to enter the NBA draft, but he was not chosen. He now is a top player in an NBA minor league squad in Charleston, S.C. He may later rise to the premier league.
High school players always have been allowed to jump directly to Major League Baseball. Those unprepared for the bigs are assigned to minor league affiliates; Jerome Williams, the ink barely dry on his Waipahu High School diploma, signed an $800,000 bonus with the San Francisco Giants in 1999 and spent four years in the team's farm system before being elevated to the Giants.
Athletes are not allowed to compete in college sports after deciding to go pro, whether chosen or not. The stricken NFL rule required that players be at least three years out of high school before becoming eligible. Wide receiver Ashley Lelie chose that route two years ago after his junior year at UH and began a lucrative career with the Denver Broncos.
Hawaii football coach June Jones, a former NFL coach, doubts that players will jump from high school to the pros in large numbers. Jones told the Los Angeles Times that he has seen only one college freshman or sophomore who was capable of playing in the pros -- University of Pittsburgh receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who will be eligible for the NFL draft because of the Clarett ruling.
"In the existing system," Jones told the Times, "I don't think it will mean much." A pro team is not likely to pay the large bonus that goes with a first-round draft pick, he explained. "It would be smart for the players to stay in school, where they can (eventually) get that money. The difference of being a first-round pick and a fifth-round pick is very significant."
