2008 Woodie Awards
Maurice Clarett:A former national champion lands behind bars
Juan Bernal
Issue date: 10/2/06 Section: Sports
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Five years ago, Maurice Clarett was considered the top high school football prospect in the United States. He was one of the best athletes to ever come out of Warren Harding High School.
After graduating early from Harding High, Clarett was surprisingly named the Ohio State starting running back at the start of the 2002 season and rushed for 1,237 yards and led them to a national championship. When it seemed like Clarett was on top of the world, from that point on things took a turn for the worse
the summer of 2003, Clarett was at the center of a scandal in which he falsely claimed that he had $10,000 worth of merchandise that included CD's, clothes and other items stolen from a car that he had rented from a local dealership. Clarett ended up pleading guilty to a lesser charge.
Just as the dealership scandal started to become a big issue, Clarett was suspended from the Buckeyes for the 2003 season after a teaching assistant told the "New York Times" that Clarett had received preferential treatment. No evidence was found in order to accuse Clarett of academic misconduct.
Those incidents led Clarett to drop out of school and he moved to Los Angeles where he unsuccessfully sued to try and have his name included in the 2004 NFL Draft. He challenged the ruling that states you have to be three years removed from high school in order to participate.
After being drafted in the third round of the 2005 draft by the Denver Broncos, Clarett signed a four year non-guaranteed contract. However, Clarett's obvious lack of preparation and run-ins with coaches would lead him to getting cut.
The tale of Maurice Clarett recently continued to take another turn for the worse on August 9, 2006, when cops pulled Clarett over after because he made an illegal U-turn. In his SUV he led police on a wild high speed chase that led to his arrest in Columbus, Ohio.
This wasn't just any normal high speed chase. When Clarett was put in handcuffs, Columbus Police were forced to secure his mouth with a cloth after he spit and hurled a series of epithets at the cops that included calling them "ni*** haters."
After graduating early from Harding High, Clarett was surprisingly named the Ohio State starting running back at the start of the 2002 season and rushed for 1,237 yards and led them to a national championship. When it seemed like Clarett was on top of the world, from that point on things took a turn for the worse
the summer of 2003, Clarett was at the center of a scandal in which he falsely claimed that he had $10,000 worth of merchandise that included CD's, clothes and other items stolen from a car that he had rented from a local dealership. Clarett ended up pleading guilty to a lesser charge.
Just as the dealership scandal started to become a big issue, Clarett was suspended from the Buckeyes for the 2003 season after a teaching assistant told the "New York Times" that Clarett had received preferential treatment. No evidence was found in order to accuse Clarett of academic misconduct.
Those incidents led Clarett to drop out of school and he moved to Los Angeles where he unsuccessfully sued to try and have his name included in the 2004 NFL Draft. He challenged the ruling that states you have to be three years removed from high school in order to participate.
After being drafted in the third round of the 2005 draft by the Denver Broncos, Clarett signed a four year non-guaranteed contract. However, Clarett's obvious lack of preparation and run-ins with coaches would lead him to getting cut.
The tale of Maurice Clarett recently continued to take another turn for the worse on August 9, 2006, when cops pulled Clarett over after because he made an illegal U-turn. In his SUV he led police on a wild high speed chase that led to his arrest in Columbus, Ohio.
This wasn't just any normal high speed chase. When Clarett was put in handcuffs, Columbus Police were forced to secure his mouth with a cloth after he spit and hurled a series of epithets at the cops that included calling them "ni*** haters."
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