Commentary: Oh Maurice
Four years ago I was on the Ohio State bandwagon as the Buckeyes beat the Miami Hurricanes to claim an undefeated season and the college football national championship. At the time Maurice Clarett was the future of Ohio State football. The only freshman running back ever to start the first game of the season for the scarlet and gray. He rushed into the hearts of Buckeyes fans. And even when a few indiscretions popped up, he still had a cheering section and a fighting chance.
Then something changed. The Ohio State University said Clarett would have to sit out his sophomore season. That's when the school threw him into an unknown world: life off the football field.
Clarett could handle anything on the field. He was taught how to be a football player, nothing less and nothing more. Clarett even graduated high school a semester early, so that he could participate in Ohio State's spring football practices.
But what no one seemed to bother doing was teach Clarett life skills. How to carry himself when he wasn't carrying a football. How to deal with the media. How to watch out for people who wanted a piece of him (i.e. agents and all-too-frieldly boosters).
No one could have predicted the vast fall that Clarett would take in his life. Did anyone else feel strange reading that he was found with an AK-47 while wearing a bulletproof vest? This kid had promise. He had the ability to one day take care of his family. That's gone. One can only hope that someone finally steps in and points Clarett in the right direction. Because he can't outrun linebackers anymore. And his life, from now on, will always be off-the-field.
Then something changed. The Ohio State University said Clarett would have to sit out his sophomore season. That's when the school threw him into an unknown world: life off the football field.
Clarett could handle anything on the field. He was taught how to be a football player, nothing less and nothing more. Clarett even graduated high school a semester early, so that he could participate in Ohio State's spring football practices.
But what no one seemed to bother doing was teach Clarett life skills. How to carry himself when he wasn't carrying a football. How to deal with the media. How to watch out for people who wanted a piece of him (i.e. agents and all-too-frieldly boosters).
No one could have predicted the vast fall that Clarett would take in his life. Did anyone else feel strange reading that he was found with an AK-47 while wearing a bulletproof vest? This kid had promise. He had the ability to one day take care of his family. That's gone. One can only hope that someone finally steps in and points Clarett in the right direction. Because he can't outrun linebackers anymore. And his life, from now on, will always be off-the-field.
posted by LynnieO at 5:58 PM
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