azdad1978
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GINA HOLLAND
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The NFL urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to keep Maurice Clarett out of this weekend's draft because the dispute over his eligibility is unsettled.
Saying a team picking Clarett would be left with nothing if he ultimately is barred from the pros for this season, the league said the former Ohio State running back could go into a supplemental draft if allowed into the NFL.
Clarett, 20, asked the court this week to require the NFL to let him in the draft despite a lower court injunction against him.
He is fighting the NFL's requirement that players wait three years after high school before turning pro. Also awaiting word from the Supreme Court is wide receiver Mike Williams of Southern California, who is expected to be a first-round pick - if eligible.
In a filing with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the NFL argued against letting Clarett enter the draft.
"The NFL club drafting (Clarett) would forfeit the value of its draft selection, if, after a decision on the merits, (Clarett) were deemed ineligible; there would be no way for the affected club to 'unscramble the egg' and recoup its pick," Washington lawyer Gregg Levy wrote in a filing released by the court Thursday.
Levy said if Clarett wins the dispute over eligibility rules, a supplemental draft will be held and he could be able to participate in training camps this summer.
Clarett is appealing a stay issued Monday by the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, putting a hold on a lower-court ruling that said the NFL can't enforce its three-year rule.
The case has been sent to Ginsburg because she oversees appeals from New York. She could refer the matter to the full Supreme Court. A majority of emergency appeals like this one are rejected by the court.
Clarett led Ohio State to a national title as a freshman, but was ruled ineligible as a sophomore for accepting money from a family friend and lying about it to NCAA and university investigators. Clarett, out of high school two years, would be eligible for the 2005 draft under the current rule.
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On the Net:
Supreme Court case: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/docket/03a870.htm
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Purchase this AP story for Reprint
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The NFL urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to keep Maurice Clarett out of this weekend's draft because the dispute over his eligibility is unsettled.
Saying a team picking Clarett would be left with nothing if he ultimately is barred from the pros for this season, the league said the former Ohio State running back could go into a supplemental draft if allowed into the NFL.
Clarett, 20, asked the court this week to require the NFL to let him in the draft despite a lower court injunction against him.
He is fighting the NFL's requirement that players wait three years after high school before turning pro. Also awaiting word from the Supreme Court is wide receiver Mike Williams of Southern California, who is expected to be a first-round pick - if eligible.
In a filing with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the NFL argued against letting Clarett enter the draft.
"The NFL club drafting (Clarett) would forfeit the value of its draft selection, if, after a decision on the merits, (Clarett) were deemed ineligible; there would be no way for the affected club to 'unscramble the egg' and recoup its pick," Washington lawyer Gregg Levy wrote in a filing released by the court Thursday.
Levy said if Clarett wins the dispute over eligibility rules, a supplemental draft will be held and he could be able to participate in training camps this summer.
Clarett is appealing a stay issued Monday by the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, putting a hold on a lower-court ruling that said the NFL can't enforce its three-year rule.
The case has been sent to Ginsburg because she oversees appeals from New York. She could refer the matter to the full Supreme Court. A majority of emergency appeals like this one are rejected by the court.
Clarett led Ohio State to a national title as a freshman, but was ruled ineligible as a sophomore for accepting money from a family friend and lying about it to NCAA and university investigators. Clarett, out of high school two years, would be eligible for the 2005 draft under the current rule.
---
On the Net:
Supreme Court case: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/docket/03a870.htm
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Purchase this AP story for Reprint
