NFL Turns Down Kenneth Davis

The National Football League turned down a request by former All-American running back Kenneth Davis, who wanted to turn professional after being dropped from the Texas Christian University football team for accepting money from boosters.

At the same time Friday, the NFL filed a suit in Fort Worth, asking a Texas state court to confirm the legality of the league’s rule that prohibits athletes from playing in both college and the NFL in the same season.

Meanwhile, Mike Trope, Davis’ agent, who has threatened a lawsuit challenging the NFL rule, claimed that Nebraska and Oklahoma boosters offered Davis money and other inducements before TCU won the recruiting battle.

Trope said that Davis, who was suspended from the TCU squad last month, told him that in 1980, Oklahoma supporters promised him a new sports car and an $18-an-hour job “lifting weights.” Trope said that Nebraska supporters tried to woo Davis with the free use of a five-car fleet of automobiles.

Both Oklahoma Coach Barry Switzer and Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne denied Trope’s charges.

The NFL based its denial of Davis’ request on a 60-year-old rule known as the Grange Rule. In 1925, Red Grange signed with the Chicago Bears and played for them on Thanksgiving Day, immediately after the end of his college career at Illinois. No player since Grange has played in both college and the NFL during the same season.

In a prepared statement, the NFL said: “An exception made here would likely produce an unmanageable situation in which players, with or without encouragement from their agents, (would engineer) their departures from college during the season, disrupting both the NFL’s competitive balance and their college programs as well. We are not prepared to open that door.”

Davis will be eligible for the college draft next spring, the NFL said.