New eligibles get until March 1 to apply for draft
By Wire services
Published February 7, 2004
NEW YORK - Want to play in the NFL? It's signup time for high school players and newly eligible college underclassmen.
A day after a federal judge struck down the league's rule limiting the draft to players at least three years out of high school, the NFL set a March 1 deadline for those covered to apply for this year's draft.
As part of the rules issued Friday to comply with the decision, the newly eligible players must obtain a form from the NFL.
The March 1 date does not apply to players previously eligible to apply; they had a Jan. 15 deadline.
Players who became eligible because of Thursday's decision in the case of Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett must apply for the draft by Feb. 15 to be considered for invitations to the scouting combine, which starts Feb. 18 in Indianapolis.
The league notified U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin on Friday that it would file papers Tuesday seeking a stay of her decision, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said. The NFL's new draft rules apply only if the Clarett decision remains in force.
Scheindlin has scheduled a hearing on the case for Wednesday, and the stay application could be addressed then, Aiello said.
If the ruling does stand, Clarett will have to prove to scouts and coaches he is worth selecting.
That might be even more difficult than beating the NFL in court.
"My guess is that I don't think he'll be picked in the first two rounds," NFL draft consultant Gil Brandt said. "Now if he comes in and blows people away with the way he catches the ball, the routes he runs, his speed and his conditioning, that might be a different story."
Clarett hasn't played competitively for 13 months, since scoring the winning touchdown in the second overtime of Ohio State's national championship victory over Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.
Jack Butler of the BLESTO scouting service said Clarett's value in the draft is unclear because scouts don't know much about him.
"I know he is a good football player. But I don't know much beyond that," he said. "I don't think anybody really knows much about him."
In addition, Clarett is dogged by off-field questions. He was suspended by Ohio State in September for accepting money from a family friend and then lying about it to NCAA investigators.
"I wouldn't take him before the third round, if I was a GM," said Jim Sabo of Ourlads' Scouting Service. "He's obviously got a lot of talent and looks like he would be a very high first-round draft pick, but with all that has happened to him there's a lot of red flags there."
GIANTS DT RETIRES: Defensive tackle Keith Hamilton ended a 12-year career in which he finished fourth in franchise history in sacks.
Hamilton had been considering retiring since at least December, confronted with a coaching change and a cocaine charge.
"It took me a while. I've been going back and forth with it for a couple of weeks," Hamilton, 32, said in a statement released by the team. "I've talked about it with my family, and it's time for me to move on."
Hamilton was indicted in November on a cocaine possession charge stemming from a motor vehicle stop in May.
BRONCOS BATTLE: Former quarterback John Elway testified in U.S. District Court in Denver that he never accepted an offer to become a part owner of the Broncos because of uncertainty about what his role would be.
Elway testified as part of a trial pitting former Broncos owner Edgar F. Kaiser against current owner Pat Bowlen. Kaiser is accusing Bowlen of fraud and violating a contractual right of first refusal from Kaiser's 1984 sale to Bowlen when Bowlen offered 20 percent of ownership to Elway in 1998.
Elway said with coach Mike Shanahan controlling personnel decisions and executive vice president of business operations Joe Ellis handling business aspects, he turned down the offer.
"They had things pretty well situated, and I didn't see where I fit in," Elway said.
