Football fans will remember this one.

Sports Illustrated's Peter King notes in today's column that Sonia Sotomayor was a member of the three-judge panel that ruled against Ohio State star running back Maurice Clarett's attempt to enter the NFL Draft one year early.

Players are not eligible to enter the NFL Draft until they are three years removed from their high school graduation.

Clarett's attorney, Alan Milstein, argued that keeping Clarett out of the NFL would unreasonably restrict his client's earnings. Of course it would restrict his earnings, because it would keep him out of the NFL for another year. But the question for the three-judge panel was whether this was unreasonable or unfair.

Opined Sotomayor: "That's what unions do every day -- protect people in the union from those not in the union. Why is this case different?''