Gregg Easterbrook takes severe issue with Judge Shira Scheindlin’s ruling, in Maurice Clarett’s case, striking down the NFL’s minimum age rule. I’m not sure if I agree with all his points, but Easterbrook certainly makes the case that the league has a valid interest in preserving a high quality of play and in keeping college football’s free publicity machine for future NFL stars going.
One thought on “Screwing the NFL?”
Comments are closed.
Actually, I think Easterbrook’s full of it. Just because the decision might be bad for the NFL doesn’t make it legally wrong. It’s just another example of sports owners wanting to be protected from their own mistakes.
My main problem with his reasoning is this: 1)He makes an unsupported allegation – that the problems the NBA is having are the result of allowing high schoolers to enter the draft. I can think of several other factors that have contributed to the NBA’s problems. 2)Then he makes the completely unjustified argument that the same thing would happen in the NFL, even though there are many differences between the two leagues and the role of individual players.
And here’s a simple fact: If the players aren’t ready to play in the NFL, the teams don’t have to draft them, and they don’t have to pay them a lot of money. Also, there’s no particular reason why universties (mostly publicly-funded) should serve as minor leagues for professional sports.