Fournette should be in the NFL

[Scoe]

Like right now, he's ridiculous. Easily the best RB I have seen in College since Adrian Peterson. The 3 years removed from HS rule is good for the majority but he is an exception.

 

[whaler11]

Like every other profession on the planet athletes should be able to make themselves available to the market.

Somehow the media has convinced people drafts and age limits are a good thing.

 

[DoctorWho85]

Like every other profession on the planet athletes should be able to make themselves available to the market.

Somehow the media has convinced people drafts and age limits are a good thing.

I would say it's due to the amount of money in college football. If kids start going pro right out of high school then ESPN would lose millions if not billions of dollars in revenue. It's all about the Benjamins

 

[pnow15]

No, he should be on the Giants.

 

[whaler11]

I would say it's due to the amount of money in college football. If kids start going pro right out of high school then ESPN would lose millions if not billions of dollars in revenue. It's all about the Benjamins

The NFL doesn't make their rules for ESPN.

On one side it's to reduce risk for the franchises by getting more time to evaluate and transferring the development costs from the NFL to the schools.

The other side agrees so they can shrink the player pool since when they are negotiating with the owners they are already in the league.

 

[Husky25]

Like right now, he's ridiculous. Easily the best RB I have seen in College since Adrian Peterson. The 3 years removed from HS rule is good for the majority but he is an exception.

I completely disagree, due to the slippery slope of the issue. The rule is there for a kids' protection against grown men 5-15 years their senior. Who is to say what the criteria is to allow a player to forego the 3 year rule? If Fournette is allowed an exception (one that Maurice Clarette didn't get, nor Mike Williams at a less stressful position), what do you tell the next kid who "looks" ready, but isn't. He will get his dollars soon enough.

 

[Husky25]

I would say it's due to the amount of money in college football. If kids start going pro right out of high school then ESPN would lose millions if not billions of dollars in revenue. It's all about the Benjamins

The 3 year rule is there for physical maturity, not ESPN ratings.

The NFL has too many problems as it is. They don't need the blow back that comes with JJ Watt decapitating or Bernard Pollard blowing out the ACL of an 18 year old boy because he doesn't know how to prepare himself to be tackled by anyone other than 140 lbs. safeties who never intended to play college football let alone in the NFL.

 

[polycom]

The 3 year rule is there for physical maturity, not ESPN ratings.

The NFL has too many problems as it is. They don't need the blow back that comes with JJ Watt decapitating or Bernard Pollard blowing out the ACL of an 18 year old boy because he doesn't know how to prepare himself to be tackled by anyone other than 140 lbs. safeties who never intended to play college football let alone in the NFL.

NFL hasn't shown it actually cares about the safety of it's players. However, it has shown that it is extremely greedy, so with that said I'm going to disagree with your points. If the NFL cared about safety > money there wouldn't be a Thursday night game, there wouldn't be talks to expand the NFL regular season etc or to add additional preseason games.

 

[Husky25]

NFL hasn't shown it actually cares about the safety of it's players. However, it has shown that it is extremely greedy, so with that said I'm going to disagree with your points. If the NFL cared about safety > money there wouldn't be a Thursday night game, there wouldn't be talks to expand the NFL regular season etc or to add additional preseason games.

I believe the current regime is less concerned about player safety, but the 3 year rule has been in effect for far longer. With regard to the 3 year rule and the current regime, it would just be bad optics to oblish it given the current regime's stance on player safety is so transparent, regardless of Goodie-goodie-dell's rhetoric.

The NFL is not going to add pre-season games. Fans think the preseason is too long as it is and more importantly, the Players Union won't allow an 18 game season and keep the 4 game preseason.

There's a way to tweak the Thursday Night Game to not only make it safer but also more appealing. I would only play the Thursday night game during Week 1 (Previous year Super Bowl winner in a marque match-up) and during the bye week period between weeks 4 and 11. That way you can schedule two teams coming off the bye on Thursday. Instantaneously, the Thursday Night game becomes a reward a la the Monday Night Game.

 

[noeynox]

I completely disagree, due to the slippery slope of the issue. The rule is there for a kids' protection against grown men 5-15 years their senior. Who is to say what the criteria is to allow a player to forego the 3 year rule? If Fournette is allowed an exception (one that Maurice Clarette didn't get, nor Mike Williams at a less stressful position), what do you tell the next kid who "looks" ready, but isn't. He will get his dollars soon enough.

Or he could end up like Demetrius Summers at South Carolina.

If I was Fournette I don't play in college next year. Too risky.

 

[noeynox]

The 3 year rule is there for physical maturity, not ESPN ratings.

The NFL has too many problems as it is. They don't need the blow back that comes with JJ Watt decapitating or Bernard Pollard blowing out the ACL of an 18 year old boy because he doesn't know how to prepare himself to be tackled by anyone other than 140 lbs. safeties who never intended to play college football let alone in the NFL.

140lb safeties? Drama much?

 

[Husky25]

Or he could end up like Demetrius Summers at South Carolina

If I was Fournette I don't play in college next year. Too risky.

He could take out a Lloyd of London insurance policy...

 

[polycom]

Husky25 do you also believe that college athletes shouldn't be paid?

 

[noeynox]

He could take out a Lloyd of London insurance policy...

How much does that cost and how much does it pay? I know summers had something similar but it is chump change compared to the signing bonus Fournette would get. Too risky.

 

[Husky25]

140lb safeties? Drama much?

160, then? How big were the guys in the defensive backfield when you played high school football, especially if they knew they were not going to the next level?

 

[noeynox]

160, then? How big were the guys in the defensive backfield when you played high school football, especially if they knew they were not going to the next level?

My bad, I thought you were referring to the guys Fournette was playing against currently. Change the rule to one year then, see what a kid can do against College competitition. If a kid can play, and shows it against college kids, and he wants to get paid, he shouldn't be forced into continue playing for free and risk an injury that will ensure he will never cash in on his talents ala Summers at South Carolina.

 

[Husky25]

Husky25 do you also believe that college athletes shouldn't be paid?

That is a straw man to the current conversation with far more intricacies that can be answered with a simple yes or no.

 

[Husky25]

Or he could end up like Demetrius Summers at South Carolina.

If I was Fournette I don't play in college next year. Too risky.

I don't know anything about Summers, but a quick and dirty Internet search says he was expelled after a coaching change in 2005 (Steve Spurrier) for a rules violation. I don't have a clue what that rule was but it sounds to me that Summers suffered consequenses of his own actions. It also sounds as if he ultimately got his chance (as did Clarette and Williams). He was an Undrafted Free Agent with the Cowboys in 2006 and was able to play in the CFL for 5 years, winning a Grey Cup. The same Internet search brought up a story where Summers was arrested last year on drug charges. What level of sympathy do you think is appropriate?

 

[noeynox]

I don't know anything about Summers, but a quick and dirty Internet search says he was expelled after a coaching change in 2005 (Steve Spurrier) for a rules violation. I don't have a clue what that rule was but it sounds to me that Summers suffered consequenses of his own actions. It also sounds as if he ultimately got his chance (as did Clarette and Williams). He was an Undrafted Free Agent with the Cowboys in 2006 and was able to play in the CFL for 5 years, winning a Grey Cup. The same Internet search brought up a story where Summers was arrested last year on drug charges. What level of sympathy do you think is appropriate?

maybe not summers. Curtis Sumpter? kid was the RB from South Carolina that had his kneed shredded against Tenessee. You can youtube the injury if you haven't seen it, but its disgusting. He went from likely first round pick to having to retire from the game after a tryout with niners. Just not worth risking losing millions.

 

[huskymedic]

maybe not summers. Curtis Sumpter? kid was the RB from South Carolina that had his kneed shredded against Tenessee. You can youtube the injury if you haven't seen it, but its disgusting. He went from likely first round pick to having to retire from the game after a tryout with niners. Just not worth risking losing millions.

Marcus Lattimore.

 

[noeynox]

Marcus Lattimore.

For the life of me I couldn't remember his name. He went from potential first rounder to guy whose name I cannot remember even though his injury was one of the most gruesomest you could ever see.

 

[JSM1970]

If I was him I'd skip college next year. Sign with an agent, get some upfront $$ and could he also sign a shoe deal?


Playing another year for Les Miles is an absolute waste of time.

Like right now, he's ridiculous. Easily the best RB I have seen in College since Adrian Peterson. The 3 years removed from HS rule is good for the majority but he is an exception.

 

[Husky25]

For the life of me I couldn't remember his name. He went from potential first rounder to guy whose name I cannot remember even though his injury was one of the most gruesomest you could ever see.

I'm not sure this supports your point though. Lattimore's freshman year stats were not particularly eye popping (just under 1,200 yards on about 250 carries) and while his sophomore stats were trending to be a better before he got hurt, it still comes back to the question I asked earlier: What is the criteria in order for the NFL to make an exception to the 3 year rule? Who is the arbiter? Whoever it is, I'd wager a guess that they do not have the best interest of the kid in mind.

The other thing about Lattimore is that he did have an insurance policy and he was ultimately drafted, signing a $2.46 Million (non-guaranteed) deal with San Francisco. In the attached Sports Reporter video, Howard Bryant spun the story into a woe is me tale and that damn greedy NCAA. Yes, Lattimore cannot play in the NFL and he may not technically have the athletic scholarship he would have had he not declared. However he went back to work for the University of South Carolina in a deal, he unbeknownst to Mr. Bryant, most likely worked out before he announced his retirement. To my knowledge, University employees are often given tuition breaks for themselves and their children. Lattimore doesn't need a scholarship. Plus he gets an average of $40k/year on top of whatever salary he garners for pretty much the rest of his life. Is this as good as if he were to break Emmitt Smith's rushing record in 10 years? Of course not, but it is far better than getting an injury settlement the final week of training camp, with no degree.

I think the rule is okay the way it is, but if it were up to me, I'd set an age limit instead of the 3 year rule. I look at it this way, depending on how a kid's grade school education shapes up, a high school senior can be anywhere between 17-19 years old or older by the time he graduates. That basically means that based on dumb luck, a not-yet-physically developed 20 year old would be eligible for the draft before a physically mature 22 year old who may have been held back at grade 10 years earlier.