克莱特(和迈克·威廉姆斯)将没有资格参加周六的NFL选秀，因为曼哈顿的上诉法院授予一个呆对克莱特有利的下级法院裁决克莱特在下级法院以反垄断为由胜诉，这在斯宾塞海伍德案中有很好的先例。争论的主要焦点是工会享有的反垄断豁免权是否保护了NFL的选秀限制免受反垄断的挑战。虽然这只是最初判决的一个保留，但这篇文章中来自法官的引述反映了对原告的某种敌意态度。

法官们可以选择要么维持先前的裁决，要么推翻它，阻止克莱莱特和威廉姆斯加入草案，或者干脆延期，给自己更多的时间来做决定。

他的律师艾伦·c·米尔斯汀认为,年龄限制集体谈判的结果没有达成协议,联盟应该不允许执行一个即使是集体讨价还价,因为它会影响球员工会,因此无权过问。然而，法官们在对米尔斯坦的提问中似乎驳回了这部分论点。

法官索尼娅·索托马约尔(Sonia Sotomayor)说:“工会就是这样做的，他们保护工会内部的人不受非工会成员的伤害。”她进一步表示，联盟和工会可以决定不制定草案，只要双方同意。她说，这就是劳动法的精髓。“这可能不太好，”她说。“但这并不违法。”

这不仅仅是“不好”。The agreement (if it can be called that) excludes a well-defined class: 20 year old players like Mike Williams. Were it just the usual union "protection," there is no doubt that labor law trumps antitrust law. But an agreement to exclude a well-defined class of market participants seems different to this observer. Substitute "black" or "white" or "more than 30 years of age" in place of "two years removed from high school", and ask yourself if you think the appeals court would overturn the original decision.

脚注:昨晚，ESPN采访了六位NFL教练，他们都赞同球队的立场。套用典型的回答:“这是为了他们好。”Hogwash, and shame on ESPN for being a promotional shill for the NFL. The purpose of the restriction is to reduce the costs of player development to NFL teams, pure and simple. European soccer clubs routinely sign players younger than Freddy Adu, the 14 year old soccer phenom. Typically, they train with the club for years before playing in a competitive match (see Beckham, David). Absent the NFL restriction, young American football players - the few who would be worth drafting - would do much the same.

更新:格雷格在体育法律博客有评论和链接。他指着迈克尔·威尔本(Michael Wilbon)的一篇专栏文章，威尔本的最后一句话是:“但越来越明显的是，除非在最后一刻改变主意，否则为NFL当学徒仍将是一项工作要求。”That's right. And the NFL avoids the costs of the apprenticeships in the bargain!