Record 98 underclassmen declare for NFL Draft
A record 98 underclassmen, including Johnny Manziel and Jadeveon Clowney, have made themselves eligible for the NFL draft in May. The league released the list of early entrants Sunday and said the number has risen six straight seasons.
The deadline for underclassmen to apply was Jan. 15. Last year, 73 underclassmen entered the draft. The year before it was 65, and in 2011 it was 56.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft2014/story/_/id/10318142/record-98-undercla…
January 19th, 2014 at 8:20 PM ^
There are going to be a lot of disappointed young men after this draft.
January 19th, 2014 at 8:21 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 8:25 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 8:31 PM ^
are basically useless. For many Americans today college degrees are nothing but wall decorations. This is especially true for football players who are routed to "easy" degree programs.
January 19th, 2014 at 11:26 PM ^
There are many, many jobs for which a bachelor's degree is a prerequisite. Their specific major may not open a ton of doors, but having a degree in itself is pretty important.
January 20th, 2014 at 8:49 AM ^
waiting tables and working retail too.
That is what the whole debate about college ROI is. e.g., Michigan is 120 in state, and 183 out of state in that ranking: http://www.payscale.com/college-education-value-2013 - and even when you click on the top 20 listings for engineering, computer science or business major ROIs, we aren't on it. Clemson is 133/178. Auburn is 209/279. Bama is 375/515. Georgia is 375/515 and Mr. Clowney's education has an ROI ranking of 780/919.
I'd be willing to bet an African American studies major from UNC for example -- with an ROI rating of 359/490 -- is going to have trouble finding a job if they don't make the NFL. (I have selected this as the most recent public instance of althletes either be guided or taking an easy path through school to stay eligible.)
My neighbor is a huge NC State homer, and the UNC story is one that just keeps on giving. Especially since NC State with their engineering school -- UNC is pretty much a liberal arts college -- has an ROI of 168/207.
January 20th, 2014 at 11:45 AM ^
I would actually bet that a UNC graduate who played football - even if it's in a crap major - can find work from a friendly fellow alumnus. Being a college athlete gives you networking opportunities down the road that regular students don't have.
(Having said that, a lot of college grads can find work if they really are willing to take what they can find, but a lot simply have overly-high expectations and prefer to be unemployed looking for their "dream job" instead.)
January 19th, 2014 at 8:38 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 9:05 PM ^
The "We ain't here to play school" contingent is most likely far more concerned with meeting the minimum academic requirements for eligibility than they are in graduating. In short, they are likely not on target to graduate in four or five years in the first place.
January 20th, 2014 at 5:03 AM ^
January 20th, 2014 at 5:49 AM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 8:29 PM ^
Technically 102. 4 graduated early and left.
January 20th, 2014 at 7:42 AM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 8:30 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 8:35 PM ^
Whoa JT, way to logical.
January 19th, 2014 at 8:39 PM ^
January 20th, 2014 at 8:08 AM ^
the majority of NFL teams are counting on 1-2 starters and multiple contributors out of each draft. In MLB and NHL they're not even expecting to see them on the parent club for years. It would be much more damaging to pin your hopes on the whims of 21 year olds in football.
January 20th, 2014 at 8:27 AM ^
care more about what the NFL teams want than what's best for the student athlete? Or, OMG, some slimy agent may give them money to buy a suit and a car and take them to parties, and train for the combine?
Either way, if a guy doesn't get drafted, then he's really going to need to get serious about that degree.
January 20th, 2014 at 9:45 AM ^
January 20th, 2014 at 2:56 PM ^
MLB draft rules require you to enter or defer for three years, the NHL doesn't require the eligibility-revoking aspects of the NFL and NBA drafts (ex: hiring an agent).
If the NFL or NBA wanted to structure their drafts like either baseball or hockey, it's on them.
January 19th, 2014 at 8:38 PM ^
Interesting post. Speaks more to the state of the economy than anything else IMO.
January 19th, 2014 at 8:49 PM ^
January 20th, 2014 at 9:53 AM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 8:39 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 8:42 PM ^
I believe that the rule allowing underclassmen to declare was only relaxed in 1990, but it would be interesting to know what the progression has been since then when it comes to how many have declared for the draft. I am pretty sure that, in the early 90s anyway, it could not have been more than a couple dozen each year and it has likely slowly risen each year to this year's total. I want to say that, as late as even 7 or 8 years ago, you probably would not have seen more than 40-50 declare, so if that is indeed true, the doubling is intriguing.
January 19th, 2014 at 11:58 PM ^
I think 2009 only saw 50 or so declare. That was a record at the time. And then it just kept going on like crazy. I could be wrong about 2009 and 50, but it is right around there. I'll double check.
Edit: A quick google search shows it was right under 50 in 2009. And then went up really fast from there. So yeah not too long ago it was not this high. It's nearly double in 5 years.
January 19th, 2014 at 8:44 PM ^
I'd leave too if I were in a position to get paid. There are too many variables and risks for most players to stay in school. Anyone graded out to the first 4 rounds should hit it IMO. That goes for any sport. Look at McGary. If you are smart, you can use that money to eventually get your degree.
January 19th, 2014 at 8:48 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 8:49 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 8:52 PM ^
"LSU for the second straight season had the most players of any school to leave early. The Tigers had seven early entrants this season, including wide receivers Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr., after 11 LSU players left early last year."
Interesting.
January 19th, 2014 at 10:44 PM ^
Does this imply that the players are improving because of the coaching?
January 19th, 2014 at 8:53 PM ^
rule change for NFL rookie pay has a tremendous impact. Because all rookies are now capped at the rookie wage, it makes sense to declare as young as possible to start putting time in the NFL to get to the next contract. Which is the pay day. NFL owners like this because they get cheap players and a chance to see how they do at the professional level before paying them the big bucks.
As with basketball, nobody will benefit from this. Not the NFL and certainly not college football.
January 19th, 2014 at 9:12 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 10:00 PM ^
It's the owners bribing the veterans who run the players union. Totally unfair.
January 20th, 2014 at 7:52 AM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 9:12 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 9:16 PM ^
While the intent is to hold down salaries for the NFL teams, the result is more players leaving early to get their years of service in and get to the bigger salaries. It makes sense for top recruits. You can see from the numbers that there will also be many losers.
It does seem like the rules should be allowed to let players return if they are not satisfied with the draft results. It's highly unlikely the NFL will want to change it. Maybe a minor league system for the NFL will come out of this.
January 19th, 2014 at 9:44 PM ^
did not work out so well the last time it was tried. I'm not sure why the European league failed. Not sure it would work out again.
January 19th, 2014 at 10:43 PM ^
There will never be a viable minor NFL minor league system. The amount they could pay players wouldn't come close to the value of a free college education. Take off the restrictions and let anyone go whenever they want - very few will be viable less than three years removed from HS. All the fuss is around very few players, like Clowney etc.
January 19th, 2014 at 10:56 PM ^
It does put football prospects in an interesting bind, since the age limitation seems artificial, but I think there is some sense in the NFL's position that younger guys, for the most part, are just not ready to play.
January 20th, 2014 at 5:41 AM ^
It would be just like the NBA. Very few players would be ready, but many would be drafted on potential, with the result being a ton of players paid a lot of money that do little to nothing. The NFL is a smart enough business to require some experience from there potential employees in the form of college football before they hire them. Its a smart move.
Don't get me wrong, they will still draft and pay many players that are not worth it, but if they were drafting straight out of high school it would be far worse.
January 20th, 2014 at 11:25 AM ^
The problem is running a football team is much, much more expensive than running a basketball team. More equipment, coaches, bigger facilities, insurance and on and on. It's easy to put 12 guys on a basketball team, throw them in a gym with a coach and have a few games.
January 20th, 2014 at 8:36 AM ^
they could tie the rookie restrictions to your years out of high school, or have some kind of accelerated cap for guys who stay in college four years. But they probably don't care how long guys stay in school.
January 19th, 2014 at 9:16 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 9:59 PM ^
I've always been against the benefit veterans get in terms of salary. Why not let teams pay their players what they're worth, regardless of age. Jamarcus Russel was obviously a bust, but some rookies are ready to play as well as or better than anyone in the league right away. There's no good reason not to give them a contract that matches their abilities.
January 19th, 2014 at 9:27 PM ^
Of those 4, of those 98, how many did Michigan lose.....oh, sorry
January 19th, 2014 at 10:23 PM ^
January 19th, 2014 at 11:29 PM ^