Haloti Ngata and Demetrius Williams, two former Oregon standouts and recent draft picks of the Baltimore Ravens, received disappointing news last week regarding their immediate futures.
After attending their first minicamp Saturday through Monday, Ngata and Williams learned that they will miss Baltimore’s remaining spring practices because of an NFL and NCAA agreement that prevents players from attending more than one NFL team minicamp when the player has not graduated and his former school is still in session.
Spring term at the University ends June 16, which means Ngata and Williams cannot attend the Ravens’ optional team activities or team camp on June 6, said Patrick Gleason, the Ravens’ public relations assistant. Gleason said the team knew of the potential situation prior to the draft.
Baltimore’s last day of minicamp is June 15 meaning both players will return to the team when training camp begins Aug. 1.
Ngata, a defensive tackle and the 12th pick overall by the Ravens in last month’s NFL Draft, opted to leave Oregon after his junior season primarily to support his family because his mother was sick. Olga Ngata died shortly after Haloti declared for the draft.
Ngata promised his mother he would complete his degree someday, Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said.
Williams, Oregon’s leading receiver last season, was the 14th pick of the fourth round (111 overall) by the Ravens and, despite completing his senior year, still has one or two classes remaining in order to finish his degree, Bellotti said.
Ngata and Williams withdrew from the University shortly after declaring themselves eligible for the draft, but both still fall under the league rule.
Nevertheless, Bellotti finds a purpose in the long-standing rule that was designed to encouraging players to finish school.
“I think the rule is all right,” Bellotti said. “It helps kids graduate, get their degrees and go on to the NFL. … I think it serves its purpose.”
Ngata’s agent, Mike McCartney of Priority Sports, also supports the rule.
“I think it’s really necessary because if you don’t have the rule, so many more guys would drop out of class,” McCartney said. “Teams are going to pressure guys at the combine … that was the problem before. This (rule) was sort of a happy medium.”
The rule primarily affects players from quarter schools, such as Oregon. Former UCLA quarterback Drew Olson, who signed with the Ravens as an undrafted rookie, is also ineligible for the team’s remaining workouts.
Baltimore coaches and team officials can still visit the players and plan to send instructional DVDs to help them prepare. The players already have playbooks to study from after attending rookie camp, Gleason said.
“We’re going to do everything we can to get the most of the circumstances we’ve been dealt,” Gleason said.
Ngata is a projected starter along the Ravens defensive line and Williams is expected to battle for the third receiver position this season.
“It sets them back quite a bit,”
Bellotti said of the missed practices. “It’s one thing to try to learn the terminology … but there’s nothing that substitutes for full-speed action on the field.”
McCartney, however, doubts that Ngata and most others will be affected by the rule in the long run.
“I don’t think it will impact him. The reality is these rookies are going to play 20 games for the first time in their lives,” McCartney said. “In some ways, it could be a blessing in disguise to make sure his body is ready for the season.
“He’s not going to miss all that much in the big scheme of things.”
McCartney, also a former NFL scout, did say the rule likely adversely affects Olson because of the “drastically different” learning curve for rookie quarterbacks.
According to the Web site pewterreport.com, an insider page for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, former Oregon defensive back Justin Phinisee and outside linebacker Anthony Trucks also fall under the rule and are ineligible for their team’s optional activities. Phinisee was a seventh-round selection (235 overall) and Trucks was undrafted.
None of the other former Oregon players were affected by the league rule because they were able to complete their degrees before joining their respective NFL teams.
Those players include quarterback Kellen Clemens of the New York Jets (second round, 49th overall),
Tim Day of the Chicago Bears (undrafted), Devan Long of the Carolina Panthers (undrafted) and Terrence Whitehead of the Cincinnati Bengals (undrafted).