Smart Receiver Always Follows His Blockers

To paraphrase that old Bobby Fuller Four song: Maurice Clarett fought the law and ... Mike Williams won?

One can’t help but marvel at Williams’ dazzling talent and fortuitous timing.

On Feb. 5, a federal judge declared Ohio State sophomore tailback Maurice Clarett eligible for the upcoming NFL draft, striking down a league statute that prohibited college players from seeking employment until three years after their high school classes graduated.

Turns out the prime beneficiary of that ruling may not be the plaintiff but the first man who used Clarett’s legal block to clear a professional path.

That player is USC sophomore receiver Mike Williams, who declared Wednesday his intentions of joining Clarett in the NFL.

Call it a spinoff of USC’s signature play: Student Body Left (early).

Whereas Clarett spent a turbulent, injury-plagued, suspension-filled tenure at Ohio State and saw challenging the antitrust law as his only recourse, Williams is now allowed to finish up a spectacular if not truncated run at USC and cash in on the fruits of democracy.

Thank you, Sherman Antitrust Act.

Whereas Clarett showed up out of shape at last week’s NFL combine in Indianapolis and may bad-attitude his way from a first-round pick to a third, the only question about Williams and his freakish skills is how high he goes in the first round.

Williams might have made more money had he stayed one more year at USC, but he’s still going to be a multimillionaire -- and one who doesn’t have to risk a career-ending injury as an amateur.

Williams will end up richer than most and maybe luckier than he knows in being a talented sophomore receiver at just the right time in history.

It remains to be seen what effect the Clarett decision, and Williams’ subsequent coattail ride, will have on the game and future players.

There is still no telling whether this is an opening of the floodgates or, in Williams’ case, a rare crack in the window of opportunity.

Five days before the NFL’s Monday deadline for draft declaration, Williams is the only player other than Clarett to have stepped forward -- not exactly a stampede.

Also note the NFL has appealed Judge Shira A. Scheindlin’s ruling in the Clarett matter. Gary Roberts, an assistant law dean at Tulane University, said Wednesday he thought the decision may be overturned by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.

“I think this story has many chapters left to be written,” said Roberts, who specializes in sports law.

If the 2nd Circuit issued a stay, Roberts said, Clarett and Williams would be ineligible for the April draft but could then make legal damage claims for potential lost wages.

If the 2nd Circuit upholds the judge’s decision, Clarett would be in the draft and might not have any reason to fight the NFL’s appeal.

In that case, another player wishing to challenge the rule would have to start from scratch and may not receive such a receptive judge as Clarett received with Scheindlin.

Roberts says the Clarett decision happened so fast only a few players may be able to take full advantage.

“I doubt there will be very many this year,” Roberts said. “To really come out and do it right, you need to plan. You have to go to the combine in Indianapolis, get your ducks in a row, get your mind-set focused.”

This time next year, who knows, the Clarett case may still be in flux.

Roberts said there’s also the chance the NFL and its players’ union may either bargain the three-year rule into the agreement or reach some sort of a compromise that falls short of unfettered entry.

Roberts doesn’t think the NFL will back down on this case because it believes, and Roberts agrees, that Scheindlin’s decision was seriously flawed.

“I think the NFL at this point thinks it has to appeal this judge’s ruling because this judge’s ruling contains so many idiotic holdings that were just flat-out against the law on so many points,” Roberts said. “The NFL just can’t live with that precedent on the books at this point.”

Meanwhile, while lawyers are haggling, Williams may get to slip out of town and into the NFL.

The NFL is confident it can hold at bay the number of college kids who leave school early ... for now.

Rich McKay, Atlanta Falcon general manager and co-chair of the NFL’s competition committee, at first feared college players might leave in droves after the Clarett decision was issued.

So far, that has not been the case.

“We’ve become at least a little more comfortable that number will be a lot less, and we all want it to be a lot less, so we’ll see,” McKay said. “If the number were zero, I’d be happy, but whatever that number is, we’ll deal with it.”

McKay hopes the Clarett case is an aberration for a league that has benefited from its cost-free developmental relationship with the college game.

“We’ve got to hope as a league that it’s a one-year issue,” McKay said of the Clarett case.

As Williams follows Clarett down the courthouse steps, college football puts on a brave face. Ed Orgeron, USC’s defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator, said Williams’ early departure is a unique situation and an isolated case.

He said that despite losing Williams, USC will not change the way it recruits players.

“We’ll recruit the best players and we’ll just continue to recruit the best players,” he said.

Orgeron said college football can absorb the losses. He said football is different from college basketball, a sport in which the loss of one star player can make or break a program.

“That’s why we’ve got 85 guys, you know?” he said, referring to the number of scholarships allotted to Division I-A football programs. “There’s no one person bigger than the football team. We lost Carson Palmer. What happened?”

Matt Leinart took over at quarterback and USC won a share of the national title.

“Somebody steps up,” Orgeron said, pounding home his point. “That’s the power of USC. We move on. We’re solid. This just creates opportunities for other guys. And other guys are excited.”

Times staff writer Sam Farmer contributed to this report.