In Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, the story begins with Alice chasing the white rabbit and embarking upon a magical journey.

On Feb. 10, the story of Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett begins with him chasing the white rabbit of National Football League draft eligibility and embarking upon a legal journey.

A lawsuit in U.S. District Court from Clarett forced the NFL to release the white rabbit from its legal cage, paving the way for six other underclass football players to chase this elusive animal toward this weekend’s NFL Draft.

On Monday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York was convinced by the NFL that the white rabbit must be caged again, leaving these young, curious players in limbo as they fall through the legal rabbit hole.

And down the rabbit hole they go. Like Alice, they’re now wondering when this fall will end.

For these players, who knew that declaring for the NFL would be the end of their collegiate careers, there’s no going back. For the NFL, which was forced to legally open this hole to these players and release the white rabbit, there’s no going back, either.

Which begs the question: How do you close a rabbit hole and pull the players out at the same time? You can’t.

Until Clarett came along, the NFL had a set guideline that both the league and the NFL Player’s Association was proud of — all athletes were prohibited from becoming eligible to be drafted and play in the NFL until they were three full years removed from high school.

The white rabbit — unrestricted eligibility — was Clarett’s target after he became ineligible at Ohio State due to NCAA sanctions and suspension involving the falsifying of a police report and possibly receiving benefits from boosters.

But the white rabbit was also sought by other college football players, those who believed their skills were good enough, their bodies were strong enough and their minds were sharp enough to play in the NFL.

University of Southern California wide receiver Mike Williams was one of those players. He eagerly jumped down the hole, with the white rabbit and a first-round selection within reach.

But now these players are falling and the NFL has the white rabbit back in its cage. Where do we go from here?

Well, this rabbit hole is familiar to sports fans, especially those in the Northwest. Remember golfer Casey Martin?

Martin, from Eugene, Ore., sued the PGA Tour to allow him to use a cart to play in tour-sponsored events due to a degenerative circulatory disorder in his legs. He won the case in 1998. However, the PGA Tour was able to keep its guideline — no carts, all walking — and is now able to judge other appeals similar to Martin’s on a case-by-case basis.

During the appeals process, Martin was able to use a cart to get himself around the course during play. The PGA Tour agreed to it, but the Tour also told current — and future — players that this didn’t mean that they could go galavanting around TPC-Sawgrass or Pebble Beach on a motorized cart either.

And this is where the NFL can close this rabbit hole for good, without endangering the players now falling in the hole — rule these seven players draft-eligible as a rare case. Allow these players to be drafted, where the NFL’s teams can determine whether the players are worthy or not to play, and legally plug the hole so that others can’t use it.

Monday’s federal appeals court ruling, along with Thursday's rejected appeals to the Supreme Court, all but cemented the guideline’s standing, leaving the NFL with little risk or harm that future Claretts will be able to use this route into the league.

With little risk that this could happen again in the future, the NFL can end this trip down the rabbit hole “landing upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves … not a bit hurt.” This would be the best for the league, the players in question and for the future of the game.

Anything less would be talking nonsense to the Queen of Hearts.