Clarett considers challenging NFL

The NFL does not allow players to enter the draft until three years after high school.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Maurice Clarett and his mother are considering a legal challenge of the NFL rule that prohibits underclassmen from entering the draft, the family's attorney said.
That's one of several options for the suspended Ohio State tailback, according to Alan C. Milstein, a lawyer in Pennsauken, N.J.
Milstein painted a picture of a contentious relationship between Ohio State officials and Michelle Clarett and her son, the leading rusher for last season's national championship team.
Clarett's mother is "distraught" at the way her son is being treated by Ohio State, Milstein said. Clarett is "a good kid who has tried to cooperate" with investigators and university officials but is being held accountable for discrepancies in his statements after almost 11 hours of interviews over at least four days, he said.
"We're looking at all the options," Milstein said when asked if the Claretts still might sue for Maurice to be available in the 2004 draft. "It's obviously one of the options."
The NFL does not allow players to be eligible for its draft until they have been out of high school at least three years. Clarett is a sophomore and, under the rule, could not be selected until the 2005 draft at the earliest.
Different opinion
Milstein said he did not believe that a court test of the NFL rule would take years. NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue has said the league will fight any underclassman who tries to overturn the rule.
"When a player decides to do that, I think it's going to be a legal issue and decided rather quickly by the court," Milstein said. "There's no facts in dispute. It's just, is the rule lawful or not?"
Clarett is suspended from the team while the NCAA and the university continue to investigate his off-the-field activities.
Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger said Clarett was suspended because of allegations of accepting improper benefits and for misleading investigators.
Ohio State has been working for the past two weeks on a response to "several pages" of allegations sent by the NCAA to the university. Geiger said then that he thought the university would have a response finished last week.
"The family has said, 'Tell us what it is that you're going to do so that we can make the choices that we need to make,' " Milstein said. "It's unfair to string this kid out like this."
Ohio State spokesman Steve Snapp said the university's response to the NCAA is not complete and "there is no definite timetable for when it will be completed."
Unfair treatment
Milstein said the public perception of Clarett is skewed by the intense media coverage of his situation.
"He's a little kid in a big kid's body. He has been attacked and his integrity has been questioned and he's been put through this whirlwind of accusations and he's been questioned hours and hours and hours," Milstein said. "It's just absolutely unfair to treat any kid this way. It's just awful, to put any kid up under this kind of a microscope as if he is a professional athlete who is mature."
Geiger has not done all he can to help Clarett, Milstein said.
"I cannot understand what is motivating Ohio State," he said. "It defies explanation."