In less than two weeks, the most wonderful time of the year will be upon us: The NFL Draft. As many of you know, The NFL Draft is my 2nd Christmas. Every time the last week of April rolls around, I get as excited as Ricky Martin at Chippendale's. With the Draft just a few weeks away, I thought we should dedicate our favorite weekly honor to a former Draft cautionary tale.
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In his defense, Maurice Clarett meant well. He was your prototypical naive young prodigy with too many greedy yes-men in his ear giving him bad advice. Clarett emerged onto the scene as a breakout star for the Ohio State Buckeyes back in 2002. As a true freshman, the 5'11, 234-pound Clarett mowed over anything in sight, rushing for a freshman school record 1,237 yards and leading the Buckeyes to a national championship in one of the greatest title games ever played against Miami. That early success caused the leaches to come out of the woodwork. After his big freshman year, Clarett was suddenly a star at 19. He was gracing the covers of magazines like ESPN:The Mag and Sporting News and being heralded as "The Next Eddie George".
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However, all of Clarett's hype overshadowed his blatant lack of maturity(something common in star athletes who achieve great heights of fame at such a young age). During his freshman year, Clarett routinely got into spats with coaches, but was never reprimanded. Clarett's hijinx continued in the summer leading into his sophomore year, when he suspended for the season after filing a false claim over $10,000 of merchandise that was stolen from a car he borrowed from a local dealership. Unable to play football, Clarett moved to Los Angeles, where he partied it up on a nightly basis and ballooned up to nearly 260 pounds. With all these new friends and caretakers around him and his collegiate career on life support, Clarett got talked into challenging the NFL's rule that all college players must be three years removed from high school before entering the Draft in 2004. The court ruled in Clarett's favor and allowed Clarett into the '04 Draft before it was eventually overturned on appeal. Having signed with an agent and now being barred from the Draft, Clarett found himself without a football home. Finally eligible in 2005, Clarett worked out for pro scouts who had not seen Clarett perform in nearly two years. At the Combine, Clarett ran a horrific 4.72 and 4.82 in the 40 yard dash and his lack of preparation led his draft stock to plummet.
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Now projected as a 6th or 7th round pick, Clarett was surprisingly drafted at the end of Round 3 by the Denver Broncos and then-head coach Mike Shanahan. Shanahan had a reputation for making 1,000 yard backs out of obscure players and saw the potential in the once-promising Clarett. Clarett repaid Shanahan by showing up 20 pounds overweight to camp, fought constantly with team's coaches and veterans and allegedly showed up to practice drunk. Needless to say, Clarett was cut before ever sniffing NFL action.
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His football career now in flames, Clarett continued his downward spiral. In January of '06, he was arrested for a robbery outside of a nightclub. He was released on bail in Feburary. In August of that same year, Clarett drove through Columbus, Rambo-style, and led police on a car chase after an illegal U-Turn. After eventually being stopped by police, officers found a katana, an AK-47, two handguns and a open bottle of Grey Goose vodka. Clarett agreed to a plea bargain and received 7 1/2 years in prison, but could apply for early release after three. A couple days ago, Clarett was checked into a halfway house in Columbus, where he was required to stay for another six months.
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So let's give a round of applause for a once-promising rising star who went from the next Jim Brown to the next James Brown......Maurice Clarett, ladies and gentlemen!
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