Smith Says Seau Leaning Toward NFL

USC lineman Junior Seau, the Pacific 10 Conference defensive player of the year last season, may be ready to forgo his final year of eligibility to play professional football.

“Junior Seau is leaning very strongly to coming out in the NFL draft,” Trojan Coach Larry Smith said Monday. “He hasn’t made a final decision because he doesn’t want to take away his options.

“His options are that if he is not taken high in the draft, he’ll return to school.”

That is not now possible under NCAA rules, but it could be as early as this week.

Officials of the NFL and the NCAA are scheduled to meet soon to discuss setting new eligibility guidelines. Under one plan, undergraduates who are drafted lower than expected would be able to retain their eligibility and complete their collegiate careers. Under the current rule, they must renounce their eligibility to qualify for the draft.

With the possibility of as many as 32 undergraduates entering this spring’s draft, NCAA officials seem eager to relax the rules. The NFL might also be willing to do so because of the threat of antitrust legislation.

Seau, a 6-foot-3, 245-pound junior, was overshadowed at the start of last season by fellow defensive linemen such as Tim Ryan, an All-American, and Dan Owens. But by season’s end, opposing coaches were so cognizant of Seau, they often had him double-teamed, choosing to take their chances with Ryan and Owens.

Seau has a lot of fans among NFL scouts and seems assured of a prominent spot in the draft.

Should he return to USC for his senior year, he is taking a risk. An injury could reduce his value. And without Ryan and Owens, both departed seniors, Seau knows he’ll be seeing more double-teams than ever.

But he won’t decide anything until after the NFL and NCAA meet.

“Junior wants to see which way that (meeting) is going,” Smith said, “before making a commitment one way or the other.”