Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence is only 19 and just completed his freshman football season, yet he’s already being coveted by at least one professional football league.
Sooner rather than later.
Don Yee, founder of the Pacific Pro Football League, said during a radio interview on Thursday he’d like Lawrence to “be our Joe Namath.”
Namath played quarterback for three seasons at Alabama before leaving to pursue a pro career early after being the No. 1 overall draft pick in 1964 by the New York Jets of the fledgling American Football League.
Yee, the agent for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, said his league – which is scheduled to debut with four teams in Southern California in July 2020 – will be the first to professionalize players who are less than three years removed from high school graduation.
Yee made it clear he’d love to see Lawrence playing in his league. Despite not starting until the season’s fifth game, Lawrence guided Clemson to the program’s second national championship in three years with a 44-16 victory against Alabama on Jan. 7.
Lawrence could not be reached for comment on Friday.
“Our player population will be players such as Trevor Lawrence at Clemson,” Yee said. “We would like to make him an employment offer, professionalize him right away, be our Joe Namath.
“Adidas is one of our founding sponsors, and I think they might want to make him an endorsement proposal. He would be professional and he would learn an NFL-style game with us before he declares for the (NFL) draft.”
Rather than go head-to-head against the new Alliance of American Football, which kicks off its inaugural season on Feb. 9, and the XFL, which plans a return to action in the spring of 2020, Yee’s Pacific Pro Football League will play in the summer – July and August.
“Those leagues, their player population will be players who already have exhausted their college eligibility and have cycled through NFL training camps and for one reason or another have not been able to stick,” Yee said.
Players in the Pacific Pro League will receive a salary and benefits, as well as paid tuition and books for one year at a community college, according to Yee.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.greenvilleonline.com/amp/2754291002
Sooner rather than later.
Don Yee, founder of the Pacific Pro Football League, said during a radio interview on Thursday he’d like Lawrence to “be our Joe Namath.”
Namath played quarterback for three seasons at Alabama before leaving to pursue a pro career early after being the No. 1 overall draft pick in 1964 by the New York Jets of the fledgling American Football League.
Yee, the agent for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, said his league – which is scheduled to debut with four teams in Southern California in July 2020 – will be the first to professionalize players who are less than three years removed from high school graduation.
Yee made it clear he’d love to see Lawrence playing in his league. Despite not starting until the season’s fifth game, Lawrence guided Clemson to the program’s second national championship in three years with a 44-16 victory against Alabama on Jan. 7.
Lawrence could not be reached for comment on Friday.
“Our player population will be players such as Trevor Lawrence at Clemson,” Yee said. “We would like to make him an employment offer, professionalize him right away, be our Joe Namath.
“Adidas is one of our founding sponsors, and I think they might want to make him an endorsement proposal. He would be professional and he would learn an NFL-style game with us before he declares for the (NFL) draft.”
Rather than go head-to-head against the new Alliance of American Football, which kicks off its inaugural season on Feb. 9, and the XFL, which plans a return to action in the spring of 2020, Yee’s Pacific Pro Football League will play in the summer – July and August.
“Those leagues, their player population will be players who already have exhausted their college eligibility and have cycled through NFL training camps and for one reason or another have not been able to stick,” Yee said.
Players in the Pacific Pro League will receive a salary and benefits, as well as paid tuition and books for one year at a community college, according to Yee.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.greenvilleonline.com/amp/2754291002
