Collegiate Sports

[ksquared]

And here's another...

Personally, I hope the rule sticks and the proposed lawsuit fails... principle.

Clarett Reportedly Seeks Rule Change on Draft
By MIKE FREEMAN

Running back Maurice Clarett, suspended for the season by Ohio State, has formally asked the National Football League to change its eligibility rule so that he can enter the 2004 draft, according to two reports.

CBS Sports reported yesterday that N.F.L. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the players union, received faxed requests last week from Alan C. Milstein, Clarett's lawyer, asking for a rule change. That rule states that a player cannot be drafted until his third year out of high school.

Clarett, a sophomore, is currently eligible for the 2005 N.F.L. draft.

Jim Brown, the former N.F.L. running back who has acted as an informal adviser to Clarett, has said that one of Clarett's options is to file suit against the N.F.L. to overturn the rule.

Tagliabue told The Associated Press yesterday that the league had received the letter requesting a meeting. He said a lawyer from his office would meet with Milstein to discuss the issue, possibly within two weeks.

Tagliabue said that the league remains opposed to changing the three-year requirement, which was adopted in 1990.

Asked about a possible lawsuit by Clarett, Tagliabue said, "My feeling as commissioner is that we have a very strong case and that we'll win it."

Tagliabue declined to elaborate on those comments to The New York Times, and Milstein did not return a phone call yesterday.

But on Saturday, Milstein said in a telephone interview that Clarett had not decided whether to pursue legal action against the N.F.L. or transfer to another university.

CBS Sports reported yesterday that Upshaw had told people that Milstein threatened a lawsuit if the rule was not changed. The rule was implemented with the agreement of the players' association.

Upshaw could not be reached for comment.

If Clarett does decide to sue, he would make legal history. No player has challenged the N.F.L. rule in court.

Last week, Ohio State suspended Clarett for at least one season because it said he had committed more than a dozen violations of National Collegiate Athletic Association rules. The violations occurred when he lied to investigators looking into his exaggerated report of items he said were stolen from him last spring.

The university also claimed that Clarett, who rushed for 1,237 yards and 18 touchdowns last season in leading the Buckeyes to the national title, violated several N.C.A.A. rules relating to extra benefits.

Ohio State is also investigating charges from a former Ohio State teaching assistant in a New York Times article that Clarett received improper help in a class.

Clarett has been contemplating several options since the university announced he was under investigation. One option was to transfer to another intercollegiate football program, probably at the Division I-AA level. He would still serve any penalty imposed by the N.C.A.A. but would not have to sit out one full season as is required when a player transfers to another Division I program. Or he could stay at Ohio State.

But Athletic Director Andy Geiger told reporters Saturday that Clarett could have a portion of his scholarship withheld to provide restitution for thousands of dollars in extra benefits.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/15/sports/ncaafootball/15clarett.html