Suspended Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett sued the NFL on Tuesday, asking a federal court in Manhattan to overturn a league rule that prohibits players from entering the draft until they have been out of high school for at least three years.
The suit asserts that the league’s rule violates federal antitrust law. It requests that U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin immediately dismiss the rule and declare Clarett eligible for the 2004 draft on April 24 or force the league to hold a special supplemental draft sooner.
-Under the league’s current rule, Clarett, a sophomore who led Ohio State to a national championship last season, would not be eligible until the 2005 draft.
Had Clarett been eligible for the 2003 draft, it is almost certain he would have been selected in the beginning of the first round and would have agreed to a contract and signing bonus worth millions of dollars, the suit contends.
The NFL is the only major professional sports league that has such a stringent rule for entry into the league. The league’s executives have maintained that the rule is in place to protect younger, smaller players from competing against tougher, more physical opponents. The league has said it plans to defend the rule vigorously in court.
"We do not believe that this lawsuit serves the best interests of Maurice Clarett or college football players generally," a league spokesman, Greg Aiello, said.
Alan C. Milstein, Clarett’s lawyer, filed the suit one day after he and Clarett’s mother met with league officials in Washington.
The lawsuit states that the NFL’s eligibility rule violates the Sherman Act, which declares as illegal any restraint of trade. The suit says that the purpose of the eligibility rule is to perpetuate a system whereby college football serves as an efficient and free farm system for the NFL by preventing potential players from selling their services to the NFL until they have completed three college seasons.
Clarett claims in the lawsuit that if he had been eligible for the 2003 draft, he would have been taken in the first round.
There remains much debate among NFL scouts about Clarett’s potential draft status, but two league personnel officials said this week that they believe Clarett would be a first rounder if the draft was held now.
These officials, who asked not to be identified because of the league’s tampering rules, expressed concerns about whether the 6-foot, 230 pound Clarett could hold up over a 16-game regular season, but they said his combination of power and explosiveness puts him among the top three running backs in college.
There is also debate about Clarett’s chances of overturning the rule. Lloyd Constantine, the former head of antitrust enforcement for New York state, said these types of rules are easy to strike down.
"I wouldn’t say Clarett’s case will be a slam dunk victory in his favor because antitrust cases are complicated," said Constantine, who is now in private practice. "But on the surface, he presents a very strong case. You have to like his chances."
