We’ve just finished the National Football League draft. The teams with the worst records get first pick of the best college players.

Once these players are selected they either play for the team who selects them, or they don’t play at all.

These same teams can trade there picking positions in the draft and many do. The higher draft choices often hold out for the highest possible salaries.

If you happened to see the movie “The Firm” you’d see law student Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise) receive offers from prestigious law firms for him to come work for them.

What About A College Academic Draft?

What if the poorest companies had access to the best and brightest our educational system has to offer.

Sports teams often pick the best available athlete as opposed to taking the best player by the position they play. I wonder how that would work in real life?

A company on the verge of bankruptcy could have their pick of the best legal, mathematical, scientific or engineering mind available.

Or the overall smartest guy available.

The kicker would of course be that the draft choice couldn’t make a deal with another competing company.

Either sign with the company that drafted you or hit the unemployment line. Or, you could sit out two years and then you’d be a free agent and could sign with any company.

But by that time your skills might not be worth as much.

Indentured Servitude

Indentured servitude is the practice of forcing a person to work for a period of time to eliminate a debt.

Professional athletes are indentured to their teams. Play for us or don’t play.

I’ve always thought that was a very unfair practice no matter how justifiable the reason might be.

The worst teams getting the best players of course keeps any one team or group of teams from dominating the sport year after year which would kill fan interest.

It does make good business sense and professional sports teams are a business. Make no mistake about that.

But when you compare the same practice to business in the real world it seems a little silly.

Some Final Thoughts

Every May you can bet that the most high-powered law firms will be lurking outside the ivy-covered halls of Harvard and Yale Law looking to draft the top talent.

No one will be looking for the best electrician, back hoe operator or plumber even though they will probably be needed more than a lawyer.

But look on the bright side. The entry level truck driver, welder, or electrician, could easily have a starting pay that might come close to those ivy league hot shots.

Your worth is what you make it. What are you worth?

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