WICHITA, Kan. The top-ranked player in
last years high school basketball class, Brandon Jennings, skipped college to play professionally overseas. Could the same thing happen in football?
Brian Butler,
the controversial manager of the top-ranked football recruit, Bryce Brown, is open to the idea. Butler told The Times that if approached by a Canadian Football League team, hed consider sending Brown there.
Butler said he planned to have someone explore the possibility of Brown playing in the C.F.L. next season. If they were talking about any amount of real money, Id guarantee it, Butler said of Brown potentially playing in the C.F.L. He mentioned a C.F.L. team paying Brown $5 million a year for three years.
He added: Were not playing around. I can promise you that. Im not scared at all to do anything, and Bryce isnt either. Hey, hell hurt your feelings. Hes not worried about your feelings. Hes worried about whats right and whats wrong.
Brown would be eligible to play in the C.F.L., because theres no minimum age limit. In the N.F.L., a player has to be three years removed from his high school graduation class. But Browns price tag could be a hitch in Butlers plans: C.F.L. teams have $4.2 million salary cap
per team.
Still, this notion raises an interesting possibility. Could we actually see a player leave an American high school and go straight to Canada?