This is not the end of the world
Some pundits in the sports media felt that it would never happen, but the larger majority knew that this day would come. Here's a look at the possible impact of the Maurice Clarett ruling.
It has happened.
Some pundits in the sports media felt that it would never happen, but the larger majority knew that this day would come. Even the NFL had to feel the winds of change blowing.
This is bigger than most anything else that has been going on with the league, including the incident at the Super Bowl halftime show. Finally, there is something that will get us to stop talking about Janet Jackson's right breast.
Maurice Clarett has been declared eligible for the April 2004 draft.
However, before everyone begins to go crazy about how this is going to open the floodgates, and there is going to be a rush of high school football players heading to the National Football League, and the once revered NFL is going to become like all of the other sports, dealing in the trafficking of teenaged athletes, we need to remember one thing.
The NFL is, and will most likely always be, a conservative league.
Not just politically, as Commissioner Paul Tagliabue has reminded us during this week. They are also conservative on the field as well.
Could a teenager succeed in the NFL? Possibly. It would, however, be a dangerous proposition to try.
The average life span of an NFL player is approximately five years. Five. If, by some chance, they drafted a running back (like Clarett) after high school, his career could potentially be over by the time he is 23. Think about that.
I know, the retort could be that the NFL never truly has been that concerned by morality, although they are becoming more concerned with character and image. Hopefully, the NFL will work with the NCAA to examine how the NCAA determines eligibility.
Most boys the age of eighteen are not going to be ready to deal with life as a football player. The grind and the physical toll that the NFL takes on a grown man is painful to watch. I don't necessarily think that it will be any better for a still developing body.
But what about Maurice Clarett? Mel Kiper, Jr., on ESPN Radio on Wednesday morning, stated that Clarett is the sixth rated running back on the draft board. That would make him a second round pick, with the potential of going higher depending on his combine workouts.
There are other legal trappings that will still have to be worked out regarding the NFL's appeal. But for now, we are witness to history. In the sports world of the 21st century, no one, not even the NFL, is untouchable.
Some pundits in the sports media felt that it would never happen, but the larger majority knew that this day would come. Even the NFL had to feel the winds of change blowing.
This is bigger than most anything else that has been going on with the league, including the incident at the Super Bowl halftime show. Finally, there is something that will get us to stop talking about Janet Jackson's right breast.
Maurice Clarett has been declared eligible for the April 2004 draft.
However, before everyone begins to go crazy about how this is going to open the floodgates, and there is going to be a rush of high school football players heading to the National Football League, and the once revered NFL is going to become like all of the other sports, dealing in the trafficking of teenaged athletes, we need to remember one thing.
The NFL is, and will most likely always be, a conservative league.
Not just politically, as Commissioner Paul Tagliabue has reminded us during this week. They are also conservative on the field as well.
Could a teenager succeed in the NFL? Possibly. It would, however, be a dangerous proposition to try.
The average life span of an NFL player is approximately five years. Five. If, by some chance, they drafted a running back (like Clarett) after high school, his career could potentially be over by the time he is 23. Think about that.
I know, the retort could be that the NFL never truly has been that concerned by morality, although they are becoming more concerned with character and image. Hopefully, the NFL will work with the NCAA to examine how the NCAA determines eligibility.
Most boys the age of eighteen are not going to be ready to deal with life as a football player. The grind and the physical toll that the NFL takes on a grown man is painful to watch. I don't necessarily think that it will be any better for a still developing body.
But what about Maurice Clarett? Mel Kiper, Jr., on ESPN Radio on Wednesday morning, stated that Clarett is the sixth rated running back on the draft board. That would make him a second round pick, with the potential of going higher depending on his combine workouts.
There are other legal trappings that will still have to be worked out regarding the NFL's appeal. But for now, we are witness to history. In the sports world of the 21st century, no one, not even the NFL, is untouchable.
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