Updated blog

Blog 3 - This paper will examine why the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit came to the correct decision by reversing the District Court’s decision, ultimately barring Clarett from the 2004 National Football League Draft. I am going to explain why the National Football League’s Eligibility Rules fell within the scope of nonstatutory exemption to antitrust review as well as the fact that the National Football League and players’ union did not bargain over the Eligibility Rules did not exclude the rule from the scope of nonstatutory exemption. I will do so by applying the National Football League’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, the National Football League’s Constitution and Bylaws, as well as, antitrust laws and federal labor laws to this case.
Blog 4- . In 1990, the National Football League’s seasons must conclude after the player’s high school graduation before the player could enter the draft. Clarett’s claim of being ready, willing, and able to play in the National Football League, was countered by the National Football League with several justifications defending its Collective Bargaining Agreement “First, the National Football League contends that the Rule protects the people it excludes because they ‘are not sufficiently mature, either physically or psychologically, to endure the rigors of professional football.’ Second, the Rule protects member clubs who might suffer financial adversity resulting from younger players’ peculiar susceptibility to injury. Third, the Rule protects the League and its ‘entertainment product from the adverse consequences associated with such injuries.’ Fourth, the Rule protects young players who, if they declare but are not drafted, would lose their eligibility to play college football, or who might over-train or experiment with enhancing drugs to speed their athletic development”
Blog 5 - The National Football League contested Clarett’s antitrust claim by saying that the Eligibility Rules were protected from antitrust scrutiny because of non-statutory labor exemptions that the National Football League placed on prospective players with their Constitution and Bylaws, as well as the their Collective Bargaining Agreement with the National Football League Players’ Association. The National Football League had set up the correct defense and would be able to apply the National Labor Relations Act, as well as several other federal labor laws that arose from various cases, in which agreements on certain subjects can be exempt from antitrust laws.
Blog 6- the Eligibility Rules in the National Football League’s Constitution and Bylaws. The National Labor Relations Act states: “To bargain collectively is the performance of the mutual obligation of the employer and the representative of the employees to meet at reasonable times and confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment, or the negotiation of an agreement.”
Blog 7- Also, the Eligibility Rules has a substantial effect on the working conditions and wages of the current National Football League players that would be affected by the National Football League of young competitors, in this case, Clarett. As a result, the Eligibility Rules should not be looked at in isolation to all the other rules stated in the National Football League’s Constitution and Bylaws. Through the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the National Football League Players’ Association agreed to the Constitution and Bylaws that the National Football League set forth and therefore must adhere to those rules despite not having actually bargained over the specifications of the Eligibility Rules.
Blog 8- As a result of the National Football League Players’ Association agreeing with the National Football League to waive any challenge to the Constitution and Bylaws of the National Football League, they were unable to make an exception to the Eligibility Rules. I feel that the Court of Appeals, for the 2nd Circuit made the correct decision in overturning the District Court’s ruling considering that the National Football League Players’ Association was in fact aware of the terms and conditions that the National Football League had instilled regarding the Eligibility Rules and hence agreed to waive all rights concerning the Collective Bargaining Agreement including provisions in the National Football League Constitution and Bylaws.