Should players be eligible for the NFL draft right out of high school? With Maurice Clarett challenging the NFL's three-year waiting rule in court, two NFL Hall of Fame players square off.

• Author: Brown, Jim
• Position: Debate

YES

Football players should be eligible for the NFL draft as soon as they graduate from high school.

Supporters of the three year waiting period argue that it's important to encourage players to go to college. I believe in going to college. Fm very glad I graduated from Syracuse University before I played pro football.

But these days, most serious college players are not getting a decent education. Most don't attend classes regularly and many don't graduate.

There's a financial incentive For both colleges and the NFL to require talented players to play on college teams before they turn pro. College football programs, which generate a lot of revenue, act like farm teams for the NFL: They weed out weaker players and groom talented ones, making drafting easier for the pro teams.

A key argument for this rule is that young players are not physically able to take the licks. But we're not talking about teeny-weeny high school students. Phenoms like Maurice Clarett can take the licks.

Pro football is for the exceptionally gifted individual. If you're talking about ma ordinary 18 year-old, he might have a problem playing in the NFL. But if you're talking about an extraordinary 18-year-old, he might give you a problem.

The NFL is the only pro league that has this rule. If players don't have the talent, pro teams won't draft them. The current three year waiting period is unnecessary and has nothing to do with the welfare of young people.

--Jim Brown

Chairman

Amer-I-Can Foundation

Cleveland Browns, 1957-65

No

The NFL requires players to wait three years after they finish high school to be eligible for the draft. Is this policy fair? Absolutely.

I spent 14 years in the NFL mad nothing was more difficult than my rookie season. I spent four years as a student-athlete at Arizona State University, and still the transition...