January 22, 2004
Tulane University Professor of Law Gary Roberts says that reports of Maurice Clarett's desire to return to college football at Ohio State may sound the death knell for his lawsuit against the NFL. Clarett has gained notoriety for his legal challenge to the NFL's rule requiring players entering the draft to be at least three years out of high school. A January 17, 2004 New York Times article reports that a lawyer representing Clarett has suggested that it's Clarett's desire to return to playing football at Ohio State. In the New York Times article, Professor Roberts observed that "if he is now asserting his preference to play college football, he cannot show he has been injured by the NFL rule. If the NFL can come up with the evidence that he wants to go back to Ohio State, and if he starts working out with the team, that becomes something the NFL can use as intention not to play in the NFL. I think almost any judge in the country would be willing to entertain a motion for dismissal."
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