# Another life after football goes south - Maurice Clarett wanted **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 1, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-life-after-football-goes-south-maurice-clarett-wanted/337982 "2006-01-01T19:45:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-life-after-football-goes-south-maurice-clarett-wanted/337982/1 "2006-01-01T19:45:39Z")
Former Ohio State back Maurice Clarett is wanted for [robbery](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/football/more/01/01/clarett.robbery.ap/index.html?cnn=yes). I’d like to be able to blame this on the schools where anything goes as long as you can play football; to blame it on the schools not actually teaching the players something usefull; to blame it on the culture that leads star athletes to believe that anything they want is their’s for the taking. I’m not sure I can, though. There are many star athletes who are decent people. Most, indeed almost all of them are. Seems to me that if it were not for their athletic ability, this type of guy would be living this type of life a long time before it actually started. As with Lawrence Phillips, sports only temporarily delayed Clarett from leading the life he was destined for. Sadly, I can think of nothing that could have changed that destiny. Can you? **Czarcasm** , I thought of five forums I could put this in. Feel free to move it as appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-life-after-football-goes-south-maurice-clarett-wanted/337982/2 "2006-01-02T03:37:10Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Sadly, I can think of nothing that could have changed that destiny. Can you? Well, being allowed to enter the NFL draft would have probably helped, as he was a consensus first round pick and would thus have become a millionaire. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-life-after-football-goes-south-maurice-clarett-wanted/337982/3 "2006-01-02T03:39:08Z")
Short of that, being allowed to go back to his college team wouldn’t have hurt either. It really seemed like both the NFL and the NCAA conspired against the kid. I’ve no doubt that he felt the world was against him. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-life-after-football-goes-south-maurice-clarett-wanted/337982/4 "2006-01-02T03:50:23Z")
From the OP’s link: “Clarett was chosen by the Denver Broncos in last year’s draft, but the team cut him in August.” Looks like he had his chance. Troubled just seemed to follow him in his college carreer. Perhaps he’s just a chump. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-life-after-football-goes-south-maurice-clarett-wanted/337982/5 "2006-01-02T04:00:17Z")
Anyone think the Lebron James situation also hurt him? Clarett and James were both phenoms at the same time. Then, Clarett’s ESPN Magazine article appeared. James went from high school to the NBA. Clarett, thinking he deserved the same, turned into an idiot with his false police reports. Then, he sued the NFL. The advice from Jim Brown didn’t help either. Clarett didn’t work out enough during his off year. He also didn’t take advantage of the chance to play in the CFL. He screwed up at the NFL combine and ended up cut by the Broncos. Clarett barely (if at all) played in the preseason. I think he thought he was the Lebron James of pro football. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-life-after-football-goes-south-maurice-clarett-wanted/337982/6 "2006-01-02T04:02:13Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > From the OP’s link: > > “Clarett was chosen by the Denver Broncos in last year’s draft, but the team cut him in August.” > Looks like he had his chance. Troubled just seemed to follow him in his college carreer. Perhaps he’s just a chump. Let’s put that into context: Maurice was convinced (by a lawyer? a buddy? his parents? who knows…) that he could mount a successful challenge to the NFL’s age restriction. It was a legal issue, and he clearly had a lawyer working the case. That lawyer was likely trying to make a name for himself by going after “big football.” It quickly became a racial issue, with virtually every person of color rallying behind his cause. His case stalled, and then lost. But now the NCAA tells him that he is no longer eligible to play college football. So he sits out. When was the last time he carried the ball in college? 2003? Fast forward to two years later. Not having taken a snap, and been marginalized to the point of irrelevance, it’s not surprising that he fell out of football shape. Then he gets a mercy draft by the egomaniac Shannahan – who apparently has as his mission in life the desire to prove to the world that he’s a running back genius – and when he shows up out of shape, quickly gets cut. Did he ever really have a legitimate chance? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-life-after-football-goes-south-maurice-clarett-wanted/337982/7 "2006-01-02T04:04:54Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > Well, being allowed to enter the NFL draft would have probably helped, as he was a consensus first round pick and would thus have become a millionaire. And whatever team would have picked him is thanking their lucky stars they didn’t have a chance. His performance in the camps when he was eligible dropped him down to a point where people thought the Broncos were insane for picking him. Then, in training camp, he nursed a minor injury as if he felt he didn’t need to compete, that the job was his. I guess I just wonder whether his trouble is all of his making, or if something could have made him different. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-life-after-football-goes-south-maurice-clarett-wanted/337982/8 "2006-01-02T04:06:28Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > From the OP’s link: > > “Clarett was chosen by the Denver Broncos in last year’s draft, but the team cut him in August.” > Looks like he had his chance. Troubled just seemed to follow him in his college carreer. Perhaps he’s just a chump. I thought Shanahan was crazy drafting Clarett at all and was glad when he was cut. The Broncos don’t need a running back with an attitude problem, no matter how fast he is, because the Broncos system is what really gets the team 1,000-yard backs year after year. Don’t get me wrong, having a good, fast back is needed, but it’s not like the back has to do all the work, especially with all the emphasis the team puts on blocking. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-life-after-football-goes-south-maurice-clarett-wanted/337982/9 "2006-01-02T04:10:58Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > Let’s put that into context: > > Maurice was convinced (by a lawyer? a buddy? his parents? who knows…) that he could mount a successful challenge to the NFL’s age restriction. It was a legal issue, and he clearly had a lawyer working the case. That lawyer was likely trying to make a name for himself by going after “big football.” It quickly became a racial issue, with virtually every person of color rallying behind his cause. Jim Brown was the main person behind it. Brown has never been shy in playing the race card. ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-life-after-football-goes-south-maurice-clarett-wanted/337982/10 "2006-01-02T04:32:17Z")
Young adults make difficult decisions everyday, some good, some bad. In the end, the only person responsible for the situation Maurice Clarett is in, is Maurice Clarett. Life is tough. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-life-after-football-goes-south-maurice-clarett-wanted/337982/11 "2006-01-02T04:51:49Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > Well, being allowed to enter the NFL draft would have probably helped, as he was a consensus first round pick and would thus have become a millionaire. He was not a consensus first round pick. He was always too slow to play in the NFL and he proved it this year. ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-life-after-football-goes-south-maurice-clarett-wanted/337982/12 "2006-01-02T17:50:53Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > Well, being allowed to enter the NFL draft would have probably helped, as he was a consensus first round pick and would thus have become a millionaire. Based on everything we know about Clarett, the decisions he has made, his work ethic, and that path his choices have led him on through life, do you really think he would have been even remotely responsible with millions of dollars at his disposal? It may have kept him from committing a crime for a few years, but I have to believe on the available evidence that he would have squandered his money and his opportunity, only delaying his path into criminality. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-life-after-football-goes-south-maurice-clarett-wanted/337982/13 "2006-01-02T18:13:17Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I’d like to be able to blame this on the schools where anything goes as long as you can play football; to blame it on the schools not actually teaching the players something usefull; to blame it on the culture that leads star athletes to believe that anything they want is their’s for the taking. Well, being a fan of the Blue and Maize I’m not prone to saying even remotely nice things about Ohio State, but they did suspend him for a year when he got out of line. He obviously didn’t learn anything useful from that. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-life-after-football-goes-south-maurice-clarett-wanted/337982/14 "2006-01-02T18:30:03Z")
Huh. He had a slim chance of working his way back to the NFL with hard work and foreign leagues. Nobody is going to touch him now. What an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-life-after-football-goes-south-maurice-clarett-wanted/337982/15 "2006-01-03T05:21:22Z")
[Here](http://www.fcmcclerk.com/Pa/pa.urd/pamw2000.o_case_sum?3118003) is a link which will show the progress of his court case.