Editor's note: Tony Grossi covers the Cleveland Browns for ESPN 850 WKNR.

Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence became the first true college freshman in a generation to lead his team to the national college football championship.

So what he is going to do next?

In any other sport in America, Lawrence, 19, likely would turn pro.

Jordan Spieth turned pro during his sophomore year at University of Texas and won his first PGA tournament before the age of 20.

Elite players in baseball and hockey can turn pro without ever going to college. The NBA welcomes players after one year in college, and even that one-and-done rule is being revisited. Back in his day, LeBron James didn’t have to wait.

But the NFL is not an option to Lawrence because of the rule that prohibits a player from entering the league until three years out of high school. In Lawrence’s case, he would not be eligible for the NFL until the 2021 draft.

This eligibility rule, unsuccessfully challenged by ex-Buckeye running back Maurice Clarett in 2005, is iron-clad because it was collectively bargained by the players union and the NFL.

Lawrence has no option other than to return to Clemson for two more years, compete for more championships and pad the revenue coffers of the university's athletic program, all the while restricted by byzantine NCAA rules from reaping the financial rewards of his athletic talents.

But coming soon, elite football talent like Lawrence and others in high school and junior colleges will have the option to turn pro rather than play for free in college.

Get ready: They will be paid to play in a league designed to train them for their eventual NFL careers. They will be coached by NFL-experienced coaches and taught the NFL game, and practice routine, and be officiated according to NFL playing rules.

That is the premise behind Pacific Pro Football, the brainchild of Don Yee, agent of Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo, among other NFL stars and coaches.

PPF is the new football league nobody is talking about yet. But will, soon.

Unlike other planned start-ups such as the Alliance of American Football (coming in 2019) and the reboot of the XFL (kicking off in 2020), Pacific Pro Football (launching in 2020) actually fills a niche never before addressed.

Simply, it is a league for elite football players who want to develop their skills for the NFL rather than lend their talents to the NCAA and suspend their earning power for three years.

“These players, their ultimate destination is the NFL,” Yee said. “That’s where they want to end up. So the league will be specifically curated to help them properly prepare in an NFL manner, so that when they hit the NFL the learning curve is either very short or has disappeared.

“It gives them a choice. They could play college football for one or two years or three years. Or they can come play with us for one year or two years, or three years. It’s not an either/or. It could be both.”

Yee has enlisted former NFL receiver Ed McCaffery – a long-time prep coach in Colorado – as commissioner, and has a former NFL Network executive, Jamie Hemann, as CEO.

They envision initially fielding four teams in southern California in 2020, playing an eight-game schedule in May and June. The long-range plan is to have 12 teams – four-team pods based in three regions.

Yee said players would receive an average of $50,000 in salary and benefits, but “we will negotiate with each person separately based on their perceived market value. So if you’re Trevor Lawrence, we’re going to make you a lot different proposal than maybe a really good defensive back in a community college that nobody knows who you are yet.”

Yee anticipates recruiting players directly from high school.

The league also would be an option for players such as Justyn Ross, the 6-4 Clemson receiver, also a freshman, who had six catches for 153 yards and one touchdown in Clemson’s 44-16 romp over Alabama in the 2019 CFP national championship game.

PPF would also be an option for transfers, such as quarterback Justin Fields (from Georgia to Ohio State) and quarterback Tate Martell (from Ohio State to Miami), and also for junior college players and even international players.

Yee said that unlike in college, players would be eligible for workers compensation and also could sign promotional deals and get a jump on building financial portfolios. Those that want to pursue their college education could do so without playing college football.

An option: It would seem PPF could disrupt the lucrative monopoly enjoyed by college football.

“Actually, the entire industry has been very supportive,” Yee said.

“People do see that every other pro sport has an early professional option. People do see that there is a hole in the system. Even people I talk to in college sports. Many feel there should be an alternative path. They feel there are a lot of players that don’t want to be on a traditional academic path and mixing football with academics at the same time of the year.

“American football is the only system like it in the developed world, where the [college] laborers bring in the revenue but don’t see any of it. So we’re just giving them an option to consider.”

Yee said that he and his football operations staff will begin recruiting players – offering contracts – this fall, to prepare for the first season in 2020. He intends to make an offer to Lawrence.

“We could have him for our inaugural season, and if he chose to come he would be our version of Joe Namath,” Yee said.

Namath quarterbacked Alabama to the national championship in 1964. Instead of following the traditional path to the NFL, he signed a then-record contract to play for the New York Jets of the rival American Football League.

Namath is considered the single individual to put the AFL on the sports map. He revolutionized professional football.

Lawrence, if he chooses, could have a similarly historical impact on PPF.