During his short time at Ohio State University, Maurice Clarett did not exactly live the life of an average college student. You could argue that no Division-I athlete at a school like Ohio State lives a “normal” college life, but Clarett was a special case.
After leading OSU to a national championship over Miami in 2003, the running back seemed destined for stardom. Then, Clarett started getting himself into trouble. The Buckeyes dismissed him after it was believed that he took $20,000 in improper benefits during his freshman season. He also pled guilty to filing a false police report claiming $10,000 worth of items were stolen from him. Despite being kicked out of school, Clarett packed a lot of action into his 13 months at Ohio State.
Forbes’ Monte Burke recently wrote a book about Joe Moglia, the former CEO of TD Ameritrade who quit his job to coach football and wound up with the UFL’s Omaha Nighthawks in 2011. Clarett played for the Nighthawks from 2010-2011. The following passage comes from Burke’s book, “4th and Goal: One Man’s Quest to Recapture His Dream,” and was published on Deadspin Thursday:
He was a hard worker in practice and in games. But off the field, he was living a completely different life. ‘I took golf, fishing, and softball as classes,’ Clarett says. ‘Away from class, anything you can think of I did in my 13 months at Ohio State. ‘Drugs and women were two of the things. Cars were another—he owned three of them at a time, including a brand-new Cadillac and Lexus. ‘I was living the NFL life in college,’ he says. “I got paid more in college than I do now in the UFL.'”
Most of you know Clarett’s story. There was the failed attempt to enter the NFL Draft, the drugs, the armed robbery and the night he got into his car wearing body armor and carrying an assault rifle and three hand guns. All of that landed Clarett in prison for nearly four years.
Now we know why Clarett said he never sold memorabilia because he was “on a different level.” Clearly this guy was getting lots of money from somewhere, but I’m sure the fine folks at The Ohio State University had nothing to do with it and knew nothing about it.
