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Urban Meyer says players should have more time for NFL decision

 
Oregon coach Mark Helfrich. [Associated Press] 
Oregon coach Mark Helfrich. [Associated Press] 
Published Jan. 12, 2015

DALLAS — Ohio State coach Urban Meyer thinks elite college players should have more time to make one of the biggest decisions of their life.

Meyer favors pushing back the deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NFL draft.

"We would like to have more space, more time," he said Sunday, the day before his Buckeyes meet Oregon in the inaugural college football playoff title game.

After the game, players involved will have less than 72 hours to decide whether to make themselves available for the draft. Players who are at least three years out of high school can declare for the draft by Thursday. The draft is April 30-May 2 in Chicago.

Heisman Trophy-winning Oregon QB Marcus Mariota, a junior, said he had not made up his mind whether he would forgo his final year of eligibility.

"After this game is done, I'll take a couple of days to make that decision with my family," Mariota said Saturday. "We will obviously make the decision that's best for us as a family."

Meyer said Ohio State OT Taylor Decker and DT Adolphus Washington had told him they would return for their senior seasons.

Respect: Oregon coach Mark Helfrich (below) has led the Ducks to the title game, but it seems in every interview, people want to know about his predecessor. Helfrich said Sunday that he and former Ducks coach Chip Kelly, now with the Philadelphia Eagles, text message a lot but not about football. "I would say zero on the topic of football," he said. "Just personal stuff." Oregon senior LB Tony Washington was asked when Helfrich might get out of Kelly's shadow. "Who knows?" Washington said after a pause. "Maybe win five national championships or something."

Just Ducky: It turns out that the birthplace of the Ducks' mascot is Ohio. A Cincinnati company designed and created the costume worn by the Ducks mascot three decades ago after being contacted by the University of Oregon.

Randy Kent has been in the mascot-making business since the 1970s. He says the Duck costume evolved during the design and he had to make its head bigger. His company, Stagecraft, has created mascots for hundreds of schools across the country.

Beats By Dre, gift by LeBron: Ohio native, Buckeyes fan and Cleveland Cavaliers star Le­Bron James has made sure Ohio State's players get an earful. James helped each Buckeye get a pair of Beats By Dre headphones. Ohio State officials said the gift was not an improper benefit and the value of the headphones would be subtracted from the total permissible gift allowance offered to players in the game.

A team spokesman said James (above), who represents the product, "facilitated" the players receiving the headphones.