Getty Images

Packers first-round pick Kenny Clark wants to keep working with his team after this weekend’s rookie minicamp ends. The NFL won’t let him.

Because UCLA’s academic year goes until June, Clark can’t do offseason workouts in Green Bay, as his teammates can. League rules prohibit rookies from joining their teams for anything other than a three-day rookie minicamp until their schools’ academic years come to an end.

“I wish I could stay here,” Clark said, via ESPN. “I leave on Sunday. I wish I could stay here throughout the whole process, but I think that will probably be one of the more difficult parts — that I won’t be here with the team.”

It’s easy to see why Clark is upset with the league’s rule. Clark is an adult. He should be allowed to decide for himself whether his time is better spent on campus at UCLA or in Green Bay. The NFL shouldn’t tell him he has to leave just because UCLA has classes in session.

And, of course, just because the NFL’s rule keeps Clark from working with the Packers until UCLA’s school year is over, it doesn’t mean Clark is going to be at UCLA. The rule even applies to players who have already graduated, or to players who dropped out of school. The rule doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it’s a longstanding rule, and Clark is stuck with it.