Gayatri Choudhary
India19_2000@yahoo.com
Maurice Clarett, an athlete
from Ohio State, is challenging the NFL’s rule that prohibits him from joining
the NFL professional league until three seasons of college football.
Is Maurice Clarett being
discriminated?
Is it a violation of Antitrust Law?
Or
NFL
is protecting the younger players
Study this case and you be the Judge!
The most recent antitrust case was filed by a college
athlete Maurice
Clarett against the mighty NFL, National Football League. His lawyers
argued that, “Maurice Clarett’s goal is to play in the National Football League
next year. The only thing preventing him from achieving this 
goal is the
League’s rule eliminating eligibility to players three seasons removed from
their High School graduation”. Maurice says, that he is “able, ready, and
willing to play in the NFL and his exclusion violates the antitrust law”. The
question before the court is weather this rule violates the antitrust law.
The antitrust law legislation intends to promote free competition in
the market place by outlawing monopolies. Clarett and his lawyers believe that
NFL is not permitting Maurice to pursue his dreams and goals, when he wishes to
do so.
The NFL, on the other hand states that it
is protecting the young athletes, who are not yet fully developed, physically
or emotionally, to handle the big leagues. The pressure of joining the big
money making leagues early, the young athletes may experiment with over
training and performance enhancing drugs, which may lead to health risks. The
League also claims that it is protecting the young athletes, who if declared
but not drafted would loose eligibility to play in college football. And
lastly, it protects the clubs from younger players’ susceptibility to injuries.
Your
task is to study the most recent court case of Maurice Clarett and the judge’s
decision, to write a position paper. What do you think? Should young teens be
allowed to join the NFL teams’ right out of high school? Support your position
by citing cases and facts. You may also choose to develop an opinion poll and
present the outcomes in a graph.
After studying the facts about antitrust
law and the arguments presented by both sides, analyze the actions, values and
laws, utilizing the Project LEGAL
format. Write your position paper based on your data gathering. If you choose
to develop an opinion poll, develop your form and gather at least 25 to 30
opinions of varied sexes and age group. For example choose your peer group of
male and female, as well as adult group of parents and teachers, athletes and
non athletes etc.
Here are some resources to
help you do your research.
Clarett’s court case
http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/nfl/clarettnfl20504opn.pdf
Maurice Clarett’s biography
http://www.clevelandscores.com/profiles/maurice_clarett.htm
What is antitrust law?
http://www.yellowclouds.com/legal-2/antitrust.html
Various court cases
http://www.justicelearning.org/
April 13th Supreme court Decision:
Feb.
6th article in Hark the Herald Newspaper
Feb.
13th Poll in Hark the Herald Newspaper
Times
Article:
http://www.legal-database.com/ a source of legal information
http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/graphing/ a
source to make graphs
Your evaluation will be based upon the following
criteria:
·
Effort and initiative to collect opinion poll data and
its’ graphic presentation
·
Written persuasive argument presented to support your
opinion
We will use the following rubric to
assess the written assignment.
|
Category |
Grade A |
Grade B |
Grade C |
Grade D |
Total |
|
Written report |
Shows understanding of
the topic. Uses correct grammar and spelling. Writes in complete sentences.
Also sites two other similar court cases to support the argument. |
Shows a good
understanding of the topic. Uses correct grammar and spelling most of the
time. Writes well organized sentences. And sites only one other court case to
support the argument. |
Presents satisfactory
understanding of the topic. Misspells words, poor grammar. Some sentences and
paragraphs are not well structured. And does not site any other case to
support the argument. |
Shows little
understanding of the topic. Report lacks proper grammar usage. Poor
organizational skills. Sentences lack structure. And presents no legal
arguments in support of the case. |
|
The following criteria
will be used to assess the graphic presentation
|
Your work will be judged
based on the
Professional
football is joining baseball, basketball and others sports by opening up its 
ranks to recent high school 
graduates. The argument presented is that
if a 17- or 18-year-old has the talent, why shouldn't he be able to go right to
the NFL rather than be forced to wait three years in a college program? If the
government requires 18-year-olds to register for the military draft, why can't
they enter the NFL draft? Should an individual desires and decisions be
dictated by society’s values?