Journal sielwolf's Journal: Poll: NFL High School Exodus 5

Maurice Clarett is in. The stay the NFL wanted was denied and Maurice is going into the draft. So, what is y'all's take on this?

Let's not forget that Clarett was a monster, raking up huge numbers in the Big Ten and being an integral part of a championship team. He has pedigree too. That sort of upwards tragectory that was obvious even at Warren Harding. He's a big kid too. He's 6 foot and big.

But let's not kid ourselves: this kid has had one full season of football, in High School. He has shoulder issues that may or may not be solved by more rigorous conditioning.

Also there's the emotional maturity question since, well, he lied to the cops about stuff getting stolen from his car and then lied to them again when asked how he got his hands on this very expensive car in the first place. He was then as unreliable as possible: burning all bridges with OSU, turning and saying they were just using him for his athletic ability [anyone who follows sports in the last fifty years: "duh"], and then made efforts to get back on the team. Oops! He can go into the draft? Whoop whoop! *Maurice leaves Wiley Coyote-style smoketrail as he dashes off to the NFL*

My personal take: Maurice might be close to ready but he is only slightly proven. Archie Griffith had two Heismans and made marginal impact in the NFL. A single college season is next no predictor of professional success. A player with nothing from college? Hah. Of all games, football is one where there's exponential difference in opponent quality at each level. But that's a nature of a game that is based around full-speed, shoulder down, contact. A 18 year old PG might get a few Karl Malone elbows. An 18 year old TE could get a blindside Peter Boulware. The first, unprepared for, could leave you smarting for a week. The second, unprepared, could cripple you for life. And there may be special rules protecting kickers and QBs, but that's the extent of affirmative action in the league.

I guess it all comes down to the team organizations. Would they be willing to draft a high schooler, at any round? In the modern free-agency NFL, high drafts are expected to have immediate impact. High money, parity and short contracts demand it. Willis McGahee might have been one of the biggest blunders of the last five years. And he had three years at Miami (NFL junior)!

That then leaves the later rounds, usually reserved for bulking up the roster. Well what's the use of picking up a project who needs to be coached up when there's probably a definite need to be filled? A second punter drafted and put on the practice squad could prove very useful in a season. A fourth RB who has a fat contract isn't.

Mostly this is going to knock the top football schools down a peg (as it did in bball). The best prospects will be stupid and leave early or even stupider and not even go (like that one high school kid, pinned by Oklahoma, who blathered he might try the draft this year). All too stupid to realize 3 years of starting and learning at a college (let alone the fact that they *gasp* might not be drafted and need to fall back on a degree) is more desireable than 3 years of rotting on a pro bench. LeBron is the only HS-er to have a large immediate impact. Garnett, Kobe, O'Neill. All took years to develop. And that's ignoring a whole class of HS draftee rejects (*cough* Darius Miles) who have never caught up to NBA speed. Its like jumping from a moving car. Some folks can do it, even at 15 MPH. The morons watch this, think "Hell, I can do that!" and promptly eat asphalt.

And I think that system is going to win out over Star-Power. Look at the Patriots. No stars save Brady. Shit, they even try to pimp a kicker as a star! Loads of injuries. And they win the championship two of three. Now look at the Eagles and their one man team. In a sport with three unique areas and 53 players on the roster, stars don't cut it.

And David Aldridge has an article about how the new NBA plan is to find a lot of veteran, long contract, role-players. This as McGrady's Magic and Carter's Raptors sink in a sea of gigantic contracts and biting too deeply on the cult of celebrity.

There will always be the stupid fucking idiot kid who buys the stupid fucking lies of some shark agent. A lot of these kids don't even see the inside of a pro or college arena as no one else falls for their egocentric hype. Problem is that there are those three or so quick fix front office types who operate on the same level of stupid and perpetuate the cycle. President Michale Jordan, et al.

If real organizations can accurately weigh this new characteristic ("hmmm, how likely will this kid stay around if we are good?") or can contractually bind kids. Well, prosperity will visit their household with endless mornings of sunshine.

The only other thing left will be that growing class of hasbeen jocks bagging groceries down at the corner market. All with their "I was all state and then I applied for the draft...". Whatever. The rest of us who would've killed for a free higher education feel no sympathy for your stupid ass. Actually, being stupid and all, would'a just been wasted on you anyway. These folks be that definition of nothing. Unperceptable, unmemorable. So for all intents and purposes they don't exist.

And Maurice? His yearlong primadonna act in the media makes me hunger for nothing more than the sweet sweet headline "crippling career ending injury" associated with his name. I'd drive out to Youngstown just to say "double bag them eggs, bitch."

Delicious...