http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4725498/
INDIANAPOLIS - Federal appeals court judges have issued a stay for the NFL, meaning running back Maurice Clarett and wide receiver Mike Williams are ineligible for this weekend's main NFL draft, ESPN reported Monday, citing no sources.
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The NFL had appealed a judge's ruling that struck down its rule that only players who had been out of high school for three years could enter the draft.
No official word has come down from the court.
Judges and an NFL lawyer suggested that Clarett could go into a supplemental draft.
The issue of the supplemental draft came up after the three judges questioned Clarett’s lawyer, Alan Milstein, about whether the NFL must accept players who don’t meet negotiated eligibility rules.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan asked Milstein why the NFL cannot exclude young athletes, suggesting the league was saying, “It’s good for them, good for us and in the long run good for the sport.”
Judge Sonia Sotomayer said it was not surprising that the union would agree to exclude players such as Clarett. “That’s what unions do everyday — protect people in the union from those not in the union,” she said.
Clarett played as a freshman at Ohio State and was ineligible as a sophomore. Williams declared for the draft after a lower court ruled in Clarett’s favor. Seven others also declared for the draft after the initial ruling, but none is a prospect.
U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled in February that Clarett should be allowed in the draft. She said the rule excluding him violates antitrust law and unjustly blocks a player from pursuing his livelihood.
NFL lawyer Gregg A. Levy confirmed Monday what league officials said earlier: If a subsequent ruling makes Clarett eligible, the league later could hold a supplemental draft, something the NFL has done in the past for players who entered the draft late.
Ohio State suspended Clarett before last season for accepting money from a family friend and for lying about it to NCAA and university investigators.
In 2003, he rushed for 1,237 yards and led the Buckeyes to a national championship.
Clarett maintained he was not subject to the NFL’s “three years out of high school” rule because it was not properly negotiated and because he was not in the union.
Milstein said Monday the NFL can’t argue that players such as Clarett are not physically ready to play professionally. Williams is expected to be a first-round pick Saturday; Clarett is expected to be chosen in the second or third round.
“The teams are lining up to hire these guys ... because the teams know these players are ready to play,” Milstein said.
He said only a “group boycott” by NFL teams would keep Clarett out of the league.
but other than that Clarett is screwed..Ohio St or any other schools will take him*
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