Legal Question in Administrative Law in Texas

Re: Marrice Clarrett

I'll take a stab at it. League rules preclude a prospect from petitioning for entry into the draft until three years after his high school class has graduated. Since he participated in '02 as a true freshman, Clarett could not enter the draft until after the 2004 season, according to the rules.

Since no one has taken the bait, I�ll take a stab at it.

The NFL's current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) has a clause that prohibits a prospective player like Mauric Clarett from petitioning for entry into the NFL draft until 2 /3? years after his high school class has graduated. With that said, the CBA does not have any express language that defines draft eligibility. Without just general knowledge of the situation, I think Mauric may have several basis to challenge the 2 years out clause. He might argue that since the CBA rules were not collectively bargained between the league and the players� union, that the draft guidelines are subject to court challenge. There may be antitrust challenges that he can bring with the NFL Players Association. Being an optimist and interested in having the courts shine light on this area of sports law, I like to think Mauric Clarett has a chance.

The analogy between NFL eligibility does not work well when compared to private sector or public sector job requirement. The former challenges the National Labor Relations Act that allows "representatives . . . selected . . . by the majority of the employees in a unit . . . shall be the exclusive representatives of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bargaining." 29 U.S.C. � 159(a)

As for the level of education required in the private sector, the market calls for certain qualifications and experience from potential job seeker in the private sector. The competition among job seekers for limited positions creates premium for candidates with more education and raises employer expectations.

Public sector employments such as DPS, having a more educated and hopefully more intelligent law enforcement recruit may serve a public interest of creating law enforcement officers who are more adept to understanding the complex legal issues of criminal justice and the technology employed in fighting crime. In those cases governmental employer set job eligibility based on public interest such as safety and/or efficiency.

On the other hand, having a college degree does not necessarily help an NFL player perform better on the field.