11/21/24
August 29, 2005
Clarett will be released by Broncos: Does anyone else see Maurice Clarett turning into a Lawrence Phillips down the road?
I don't believe that Clarett will turn out exactly like Phillips. He doesn't have the rap sheet that Phillips had at his age. Their careers might take a similar trajectory, but I doubt it. I don't think Clarett will have the service time in the NFL that Phillips did. He might end up in NFL Europe or the CFL (if either will have him) his rookie year.
posted by lilnemo at 02:09 PM on August 29, 2005
'Turns out he sucks" is a fitting end to the last two years of suing the NFL and the accompanying age/race hoopla that Clarett generated. Though I did agree with him that he should be able to declare as a underager. However, I'm just glad I get to watch McGahee in Buffalo this year - now there's a risky draft pick that worked out.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 02:13 PM on August 29, 2005
Does anyone else see Maurice Clarett turning into a Lawrence Phillips down the road? No.
posted by yerfatma at 02:31 PM on August 29, 2005
Or what yerfatma said.
posted by lilnemo at 02:39 PM on August 29, 2005
Is there some rule out there that if you 1) are an athlete and 2) come in contact with a police investigation, that upon the end of your success as an athlete you will immediately begin running guns and slinging rock?
posted by YukonGold at 02:42 PM on August 29, 2005
Is there some rule out there that if you 1) are an athlete and 2) come in contact with a police investigation, that upon the end of your success as an athlete you will immediately begin running guns and slinging rock? I agree. I would actually be surprised if some other NFL team DOESN'T take a chance by signing him as a free agent. Plenty of teams could use a young backup RB, for example, the Raiders come to mind. I don't think this ends his NFL career, even if he ends up in Canada or Europe for a few years.
posted by JJfromPAinMI at 02:52 PM on August 29, 2005
Sure there are plenty of teams that need a young backup RB, but not one that sucks as bad as Clarett. He's headed for the Arena league after the CFL turns him away.
posted by curlyelk at 03:00 PM on August 29, 2005
How does Clarett's going through civil legal problems with his college and the NFL even begin to equate with criminal legal problems like attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault, and attempted vehicular homicide? Clarett's just lazy; there's no similarity. How you're able to compare him to Lawrence Phillips is beyond me.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 03:03 PM on August 29, 2005
I hope Clarett never plays a down in the NFL! Bein from Ohio and a big buckeye fan, he lost my respect when he started the "i'm better than thou" attitude. Let the fool get a REAL job and work for a living!
posted by Sasquatch12154 at 03:11 PM on August 29, 2005
I hope Clarett never plays a down in the NFL! Chalk that one up in the column for the working american! Shit yeah!
posted by YukonGold at 03:18 PM on August 29, 2005
Clarett will wind up in Canada, or Europe or in Indoor Football! He has to prove himself somewhere!
posted by daddisamm at 03:26 PM on August 29, 2005
/hums Lee Greenwood while ruminating on teacher salaries.
posted by yerfatma at 03:51 PM on August 29, 2005
Thirded that he'll wind up in the CFL, and not as a standout neither. He's not all that fast, and he'll only go as far as his moves get him, which if he had good moves, would have kept him on the Broncos' roster. He'll start for the Renegades next year, making 40k a year, and hopefully he'll find something, either in or out of football, that excites him enough to pursue as a career before his time in the CFL runs out.
posted by chicobangs at 03:53 PM on August 29, 2005
Hey Clarett, I bet you wish you had that college degree or even a high school education to fall back on now huh . Good luck you fool .
posted by evil empire at 04:07 PM on August 29, 2005
If Maurice Clarett turns into "a" Lawrence Phillips then who would Lawrence Phillips become?
posted by gspm at 04:13 PM on August 29, 2005
He's a decent athlete who succeeded against weaker athletes. I don't think much would have changed if Clarett had stayed in Ohio and had turned out to be a choir boy. The disappointing part is that he has pretty much dumped a nice steamer upon anyone who's tried to help him. That's from Ohio State -- though the people there really shouldn't talk -- to his lawyers in the suit against the NFL to the coaches in Denver who had to believe him to some extent to become a 3rd-rounder. But I really don't get the whole schadenfreude thing people have with him. He screws up, but for the most part, he's been his only victim.
posted by jackhererra at 04:21 PM on August 29, 2005
Who doesn't love all caps?
posted by YukonGold at 04:22 PM on August 29, 2005
EE CUMMIN' F%CKFAC3!
posted by yerfatma at 04:34 PM on August 29, 2005
Clarett isn't even in the same league as phillips. At least phillips continues to do what he knows best ( beating up women and driving his car into little kids on a pick up football game ) Clarette still thinks he is the MAN all he will be is a practice squad dummy, I think he would even be a 2nd or 3rd stringer in the European League or Canadian. What a stupid guy, if he had half a brain he would be making millions today.. Don't the Raiders have room for another Jailhouse inmate? or Is Moss the last of them they want on the field
posted by timanderin05 at 06:04 PM on August 29, 2005
He's a decent athlete who succeeded against weaker athletes. Clarett's a good example of what can happen when you start believing your own press clippings.
posted by roberts at 06:23 PM on August 29, 2005
The disappointing part is that he has pretty much dumped a nice steamer upon anyone who's tried to help him. That's from Ohio State -- though the people there really shouldn't talk What did the people at Ohio State do to Maurice Clarett to deserve the backlash that he has brought upon them?
posted by jojomfd1 at 07:49 PM on August 29, 2005
I glad, he is as useless as tits on a boar hog
posted by wargator at 03:22 AM on August 30, 2005
Clarett's a good example of what can happen when you start believing your own press clippings. I think that problem started by listening to his agent back in high school (the days he showed up).
posted by evil empire at 07:33 AM on August 30, 2005
I'm jumping into this late, but linking Clarett and Phillips is too glib. To my knowledge, Clarett has never been accused of a violent crime. He filed a false insurance claim for $10,000 in stolen items, was charged with misdemeanour falsification, and pled guilty to a lesser charge with a $100 fine. That's bad, but comparing him to a domestic batterer is unfair. The only valid comparison between the two is that they're hugely hyped college running backs whose athletic careers quickly hit the rocks. Another NFL team will take a chance on Clarett. He's so cheap now that they'll overlook the head case rep he has earned. I think he didn't get a fair shake from the Broncos, because his groin injury prevented him from competing for a backup job. But that's the way the NFL works -- you have to make your own breaks.
posted by rcade at 07:59 AM on August 30, 2005
I wanted Clarett to succeed in some fashion, in part because I live in Columbus and the Buckeye Nation is exhausting me. The over-the-top bashing he took from the fans was unreal. You'd have thought that he was a serial rapist or murderer rather than an immature jerk with an inflated sense of his own worth who wanted to make some money. The local sports talk shows are full of schadenfreude since he was cut.
posted by pooch at 10:57 AM on August 30, 2005
Pooch did you ever think that this is one reason why everybody in "Buckeye Nation" and the sports talk shows beat up on him. Look at the date of the article especially. It was not until after he was not allowed into the NFL early.
posted by jojomfd1 at 11:38 AM on August 30, 2005
I think it's been well-established that Clarett has a screw loose. The question is what is gained if Clarett turns out to be a Lawrence Phillips-type, something "Buckeye Nation" seems to be rooting for? Are those desires actually warranted?
posted by jackhererra at 01:03 PM on August 30, 2005
I don't think Buckeye Nation is actually rooting for him to become a criminal like Lawrence Phillips. On the other hand you can't possibly expect us to be wishing him well in his football career. Not after trying to hose us after he lost his bid to enter the NFL early. That was perhaps the straw that broke the camels back. We had already went through the rest of the stuff with him, only to have him pull that in november of 2004, come on.
posted by jojomfd1 at 01:12 PM on August 30, 2005
"We"? Probably part of the problem, but I'll save that for another decade. In general, my response to jojo's last post would be along the lines of Chris Rock's "but I understand" quip (though it could go either way). But for the record, I'd that I don't think there's one post here that reflects the "root for Maurice" sentiment. No one's asking that of anyone, in Columbus or elsewhere. It's just the mob mentality that I object to.
posted by jackhererra at 02:45 PM on August 30, 2005
jojomfd1: Yeah, I understand why people were resentful of him and angry about the damage he did to the team. I just thought the reaction was extreme. I also didn't like the way OSU QB Steve Bellisari was wailed on by fans after his DUI a few years ago. This is why I'm only a casual college sports fan - I find it hard to overreact to the bad actions of unpaid kids as I do to those of well-paid adults.
posted by pooch at 04:11 PM on August 30, 2005
I don't really think I showed any "mob mentality" I just answered your question : The question is what is gained if Clarett turns out to be a Lawrence Phillips-type, something "Buckeye Nation" seems to be rooting for? I have been a buckeye fan for a while and have never heard anyone say "I wish that stupid MFer Clarrett would just go out and beat some chick and rape her and steal a car or something. So we don't have to deal with him any more." Now I could be wrong, but if you could find that somewhere I'd like to see it. At the same time don't expect me to be wishing him the best.
posted by jojomfd1 at 04:20 PM on August 30, 2005
Pooch, Bellisari really put the team in a bad spot when he got that DUI. He was then benched and sophomore QB Craig Krenzel had to play against Michigan that year.
posted by jojomfd1 at 04:26 PM on August 30, 2005
What a fucker for going out drinking and then driving home. No OSU fan ever did that on a weekend.
posted by yerfatma at 05:32 PM on August 30, 2005
Clarett was an average back who had a very, very short stint as a productive back on a talented college team. I think he may get a shot at another team, but he'll never amount to anything in the NFL. His horrible decision making and poor attitude (even when he WAS playing at Ohio State) may have cost him many, many thousands of dollars. Like any college sport, being a big name or putting up big numbers doesn't always translate to NFL success (Ron Dayne). I'm glad Shanahan saw past his big ego (for drafting the guy) and got rid of him.