Should Jadeveon Clowney Sit Out The Year?

[TheImmortalGoud]

http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/02/10/4608702/gamecocks-jadeveon-clowney-should.html

With the first pick in the 2012 NFL draft the Kansas City Chiefs do not take South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.

The NFL has a rule, agreed to by the NFL Players Association and tested in court. It stipulates that a player must be at least three years removed from high school before he’s eligible for the draft.

Clowney is two years removed from Rock Hill’s South Pointe High. He turns 20 on Valentine’s Day.

The Chiefs might not select Clowney even if he were eligible. But he’d be a contender.

If he played basketball or baseball, if he specialized in golf or tennis, if he boxed or fought in a steel cage, he’d already be a pro.

I understand the league’s argument. The damage the NFL does to brains and bodies is horrendous. Doctors know more about concussions than they ever have and commissioner Roger Goodell has assessed penalties for blows to the head, or with the head, more than any commissioner has.

If grown men can’t remember their middle names 10 years after they leave the league, what do you think will happen to those 160-pound, teenaged tailbacks who thrive in college? The NFL plays hardball. As dominant as Alabama was last season, the Crimson Tide would lose by double figures to the NFL’s worst team.

But Clowney is 6-foot-6 and 256 pounds. If you believe in free enterprise, on what grounds do you tell a player physically ready to compete that, for his own good, he won’t be allowed to?

Clowney had a teammate, tailback Marcus Lattimore, who was as good at his job as Clowney is at his. In his second start as a freshman, Lattimore rushed for 182 yards.

As a sophomore, Lattimore shredded his left knee against Mississippi State and as a junior he shredded his right knee against Tennessee. He will not return to South Carolina for his senior season. Lattimore, 21, is going pro.

Before the injuries, he was a first-round talent and a joy to watch, a tough runner who always seemed to have the wind at his back. Because of the injuries, he will not be a first-round pick and he might not be drafted. (But if I’m an NFL general manager, I gamble on him.)

There are college defensive linemen who are more consistent than Clowney. But none of them can undo an offense with a virtuoso move, hit or tackle the way he can.

The most talked about play in college football last season was Clowney’s Outback Bowl hit on Michigan running back Vincent Smith. No matter how many times you’ve seen the play, you react, usually out loud.

Clowney reached the backfield so quickly it was as if he was expecting the handoff. He popped Smith and Smith lost the ball and his helmet. The helmet rose in the air like a chip shot and landed at least 3 yards away.

Clowney alertly recovered the fumble.

He finished the game with only four tackles, but he made the tackle everybody remembered. Had Clowney been eligible for the draft, the sound he would have heard upon impact was cha-ching.

If you’re Clowney, what do you do? Give the school everything you have and try to upend the Crimson Tide?

Play not to get hurt?

Or sign with an agent, get assigned coaches and trainers and spend the season pumping up and preparing for the pros?

If Clowney doesn’t return to Columbia, South Carolina would be cheated.

At the moment, only Clowney is.

 

[ralaw]

Haven't we been through this before? Clowney is going to play football, because that is what he does and always has done. Forget about all of this "what if he gets injured" talk. Sitting out a year would probably do more harm than actually playing. Its funny how when people want to argue against the rule they take someone like Lattimore as if what happened to him is the norm.

 

[EmpireWF]

Ridiculous theory. What's preventing him from being hurt away from college ball? Plus, he'll just open himself to doubt from NFL teams and the possibility some other player will emerge and get all the publicity.

I don't see the positive in sitting out.

 

[Villain]

 

[SuperKevin]

You all are missing the point. Clowney shouldn't sit out to avoid getting hurt. He should sit out so EVERYONE ELSE doesn't get hurt.

 

[RobbyB34]

I don't want my QB or Gurshall to get hurt.

 

[JeremyHight]

I don't see how this is a debate for Clowney. His parents will do what McGahee's parents did and get an insurance policy on him. If he gets injured and doesn't play again, he gets some millions of dollars and never even has to play an NFL down. If he doesn't get injured, he is a first overall pick, makes millions, and pays off his insurance policy with his first game check.

 

[NAHSTE]

They have insurance policies for guys of this high profile, he should be able to get at least $2MM claim. I think he should be allowed to enter the draft whenever he wants, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

Having said that ...

What's preventing him from being hurt away from college ball?

:ukiddingme:

You don't see why the likelihood of bodily harm would be greatly reduced?

 

[ralaw]

They have insurance policies for guys of this high profile, he should be able to get at least $2MM claim. I think he should be allowed to enter the draft whenever he wants, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

Having said that ...





You don't see why the likelihood of bodily harm would be greatly reduced?

It is funny how this works. The argument against the NBA draft is that the league should do something like what the NFL does, because the league sucks and players aren't ready, but the argument against the NFL draft is that players should be able to enter the league whenever they want.

 

[Villain]

It is funny how this works. The argument against the NBA draft is that the league should do something like what the NFL does, because the league sucks and players aren't ready, but the argument against the NFL draft is that players should be able to enter the league whenever they want.

I just heard the Notre Dame, Mike Brey, talking about the idea of letting players go to the NBA out of high school, but the ones who choose NCAA would have to go for at least 2 years.

 

[EmpireWF]

You don't see why the likelihood of bodily harm would be greatly reduced?

Sure, but there's still no guarantee he remains 100% healthy and maintains his status as the best/hottest prospect should he sit out.

 

[NAHSTE]

I just heard the Notre Dame, Mike Brey, talking about the idea of letting players go to the NBA out of high school, but the ones who choose NCAA would have to go for at least 2 years.

Should adopt the milb/MLB model. :yep:

 

[SuperKevin]

Should adopt the milb/MLB model. :yep:

That only works if there is an effective and legitimate minor league option. Maybe .1% of 18 year olds can physically compete in the NFL.

edit: now seeing you may be talking about the NBA. I agree entirely that the NBA would benefit from adopting a draft rights policy

 

[Cornelius]

Maurice Clarett and Mike Williams all over again..

 

[Rohtang]

Whats funny about all of this is JD lives 10 mins from my house and this is my home newspaper... sources close to me are saying, he will play in the fall!!!!!

 

[Herm]

Whats funny about all of this is JD lives 10 mins from my house and this is my home newspaper... sources close to me are saying, he will play in the fall!!!!!

Sources close to me are telling me there's a chance he will declare for the draft after his Jr season!!!!!!

 

[NAHSTE]

:tellmemore:

 

[Glenbino]

Should adopt the milb/MLB model. :yep:

This.. I think every league should adopt this model.

Not every great athlete is cut out to be a good college student or even qualify to get into college in the first place.