Maurice Clarett was charged with carrying a concealed weapon after a highway chase early Wednesday that ended with police using Mace on the former Ohio State running back and finding four loaded guns in his sport utility vehicle.Officers used Mace to subdue Clarett after a stun gun was ineffective because the former Fiesta Bowl star was wearing a bullet-resistant vest. He tried to avoid police and led them on a short pursuit which ended when he ran over a police spike strip.
A few years ago, Maurice Clarett was on top of the world. He led Ohio State to the NCAA Football National Championship. He was the front runner to win the Hiesman Trophy the next year. He was set to be one of the top NFL draft picks after the next season. He was on the brink of having it all.
But he screwed it all up.
First came the minor legal troubles. There were far too many to recount now, but none were serious enough to really warrent concern. Then the academic troubles arose.... he simply could not keep his grades up and was not attending class, the classic college athelete saga. The came his failed attempt to enter the NFL draft early, his lawsuit against the league to challenge the rules, and the flurry of last minute court hearings and appeals... all resulting in a victory for the NFL. Then the NCAA dealt another blow to Clarett by ruling him ineligable for NCAA play because he had declared his intention to enter the NFL draft.... more lawsuits followed, and again Clarett lost. A year later came the NFL draft, and the Denver Broncos took a chance and drafted him in the late rounds. Clarett never saw action in an NFL uniform, and was released before the season ever started.
Since being cut by the Broncos, Clarett has been in constant trouble with the law. Before this latest incindent, he was already awaiting trial on two counts of aggravated robbery, four counts of robbery and one count of carrying a concealed weapon in a separate case.
So what went wrong with this guy? Bad wiring in his head? Momma raised him wrong? He fell in with a bad crowd? Or did society and the celebrity-athelete lifestlye drive him to stupidity?
The short answer is this: Despite all his athletic talent, he was still just a little punk who felt the world owed him something, and he tried to take what he could not earn.
