National Football League officials will kick off their 76th amateur draft tonight in New York’s Radio City Music Hall. But while the National Football League Players Union has accepted the results of the 75 previous NFL Drafts, it will not be participating in this one. According to a lawsuit filed last month in federal court in Minneapolis by star quarterbacks Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts and Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints, the draft itself is a violation of our nation’s anti-trust laws.
But didn’t Brady, Manning and Brees all participate in the NFL Draft when they came out of college? Yup. And didn’t Manning and Brees get multimillion-dollar bonuses before they played a down in the league? Double yup.
