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Joemailman
08-10-2006, 07:23 PM
Packers' Hawk Surprised at Fall of Clarett
By CHRIS JENKINS
AP Sports
GREEN BAY, Wis. (Aug. 10) - A.J. Hawk and Maurice Clarett were two freshmen brimming with talent when they arrived at Ohio State in 2002. A few months later, they were national champions.

Today, Hawk is on his way to becoming the next big star for the Green Bay Packers .

Clarett is in jail.

After hearing reports of a police chase, loaded guns and pepper spray, Hawk can only shake his head at the way a former teammate squandered his talent.

After watching Clarett dominate college football for the Buckeyes , could Hawk ever have imagined that things would turn out like this?

"No," Hawk said. "Anyone that had been there his freshman year in that stadium, I mean, he was everything. To everybody. From game one. People chanted his name the whole time, and he had a great year."

Clarett was the toast of college football after scoring a touchdown in the second overtime of the Fiesta Bowl against Miami to clinch the 2002 national championship for Ohio State.

Since then, his life has become a mess.

"He was a great running back - great vision, size, speed, everything," Hawk said. "It's unfortunate when something like that happens to someone, that many instances that he had off the field that caused all these problems for him."

Clarett was arrested early Wednesday morning after police tried to pull him over for driving erratically.

Police say they eventually stopped Clarett's SUV by spiking his tires, then tried to subdue him with a stun gun - but it didn't work because he was wearing a bulletproof vest, so they used pepper spray. He allegedly had four loaded guns in the SUV.


Clarett was charged with carrying a concealed weapon on Thursday, and bond was set at $5 million.

It was the latest in a series of off-the-field issues for the former star.

Clarett was suspended for the 2003 season after being charged with falsifying a police report. He left Ohio State, then sued unsuccessfully to become eligible for 2004 NFL draft.

The Denver Broncos drafted him in the third round in 2005, then cut him during the preseason.

Earlier this year, Clarett was charged with robbery and carrying a concealed weapon after police said he flashed a gun and robbed two people of a cell phone behind a Columbus lounge on New Year's morning.

"It's tough seeing that because it seems like something that keeps repeating," Hawk said. "It's not like it's gotten better."

Hawk said he didn't know Clarett particularly well off the field, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"He got along with the guys and was a good teammate at the time," said Hawk, who hasn't spoken to Clarett in several years.

Hawk wonders if Clarett was getting bad advice.

"I feel bad for him. I think a lot of people do," Hawk said. "You've got to surround yourself with decent people, and I think in his case maybe he didn't do that, or took some bad advice or whatever. I don't know. Things aren't going right. Maybe this will be a wakeup call."

Packers defensive lineman Kenny Peterson was a senior at Ohio State when Clarett was a freshman, and hopes to get a chance to speak to his former teammate.


You know what? It's easy to love somebody when everything's going good. When it's sunny days, winning. It's easy to love somebody then," Peterson said. "But when they need the most love is when they're down and out. Everyone's trying to shun him now. If I had direct contact with him, I would. He needs somebody to help him. Obviously, there's more than a little bit going on, more than we know."

Peterson said from an outsider's perspective, it appears that Clarett is on a downward spiral that he can't control.

"More people need to reach out and find out what's going on," Peterson said. "Don't give up on him. We need to get to the source of why he's acting like this, what's going on in his heart and his head. If you look at it as an outsider, yeah, you think, 'This dude has just lost it. He's gone crazy.' I wish I could talk to Maurice. I wish."




Man, talk about 2 guys whose lives have taken different paths. Hawk is right about Clarett on 2 counts. he could have been one of the greats, and he's probably gotten some bad advice as a youngster. Hopefully someone can get through to Clarett, or he'll end up in the headlines, in a bad way.

GrnBay007
08-10-2006, 07:46 PM
I'm sure it won't be a popular opinion here, but I do feel bad for this kid. Not for his actions but for the overall situation. Of course all anyone can do is speculate without being a person with close personal contact with him. Like Hawk said you need to surround yourself with decent people. Maybe that's where things first started going downhill. With all the hoopla he experienced early in college a young person needs someone in their life to keep them grounded. Then maybe add some negative people into his life and also what was written in the other article about his mental state. Take some psychological problems untreated, add a bunch of stress and add alcohol and drugs and you are most definitely looking at a time bomb waiting to go off. I'm sure he'll be looking at some time with these new charges. Hopefully he will use the time locked up to get his head on straight so history doesn't repeat itself.

woodbuck27
08-10-2006, 07:51 PM
I'm sure it won't be a popular opinion here, but I do feel bad for this kid. Not for his actions but for the overall situation. Of course all anyone can do is speculate without being a person with close personal contact with him. Like Hawk said you need to surround yourself with decent people. Maybe that's where things first started going downhill. With all the hoopla he experienced early in college a young person needs someone in their life to keep them grounded. Then maybe add some negative people into his life and also what was written in the other article about his mental state. Take some psychological problems untreated, add a bunch of stress and add alcohol and drugs and you are most definitely looking at a time bomb waiting to go off. I'm sure he'll be looking at some time with these new charges. Hopefully he will use the time locked up to get his head on straight so history doesn't repeat itself.

You are so right, GrnBay007 !

The Domino Effect.

digitaldean
08-10-2006, 09:19 PM
I'm sure it won't be a popular opinion here, but I do feel bad for this kid. Not for his actions but for the overall situation. Of course all anyone can do is speculate without being a person with close personal contact with him. Like Hawk said you need to surround yourself with decent people. Maybe that's where things first started going downhill. With all the hoopla he experienced early in college a young person needs someone in their life to keep them grounded. Then maybe add some negative people into his life and also what was written in the other article about his mental state. Take some psychological problems untreated, add a bunch of stress and add alcohol and drugs and you are most definitely looking at a time bomb waiting to go off. I'm sure he'll be looking at some time with these new charges. Hopefully he will use the time locked up to get his head on straight so history doesn't repeat itself.

The scary part was with what he had in that car it was obvious he was out to hurt someone. Heard Mike & Mike that he was a couple blocks away from the house of the woman testifying against him in his upcoming trial. Sorry, but with all the ammo in that car he was going to do bodily harm to someone.

Do I feel sorry for him?

I feel some sorrow for him. He obviously has an alcohol problem. (He was slamming vodka at Broncos' training camp last year.) But he has had multiple opportunities from multiple sources. The best place for him to dry out and not hurt anyone else is the slammer.

Joemailman
08-10-2006, 09:21 PM
Clarett stood against a wall next to his lawyer during Thursday's arraignment, did not say anything and was not addressed by the judge. His attorney, Nick Mango, called the $5 million bond excessive, adding that his client would not likely be able to post it.

Mango would not speculate on why four loaded guns - including an AK-47-style assault rifle - were in the SUV Clarett was driving early Wednesday.

"We're very confident that there was no intent to harm anyone," Mango said.

Prosecutors initially asked the judge to hold Clarett without bond, in part because he had been driving just a few blocks from the home of a woman scheduled to testify against him in his robbery trial, which starts Monday.

In that case, witnesses said Clarett flashed a gun and robbed them of a cell phone behind a Columbus nightclub earlier this year.


Thank god they caught him when they did. I have a feeling we haven't hear the end of this story.

billy_oliver880
08-10-2006, 09:24 PM
Mango would not speculate on why four loaded guns - including an AK-47-style assault rifle - were in the SUV Clarett was driving early Wednesday.

"We're very confident that there was no intent to harm anyone," Mango said.

You have got to be kidding me? I guess thats an real safe defense. We are confident that a man with 4 loaded rifles was just going to drive around with them and then drive back home. :roll:

GrnBay007
08-10-2006, 09:37 PM
Do I feel sorry for him?

I feel some sorrow for him. He obviously has an alcohol problem. (He was slamming vodka at Broncos' training camp last year.) But he has had multiple opportunities from multiple sources. The best place for him to dry out and not hurt anyone else is the slammer.

sorrow is a good word. He'll dry out in the slammer but I think in his case it's going to involve a bit more than just getting off the booze. It's just really unfortunate that somewhere down the line things got really messed up for this talented young man.

Rastak
08-10-2006, 09:40 PM
Mango would not speculate on why four loaded guns - including an AK-47-style assault rifle - were in the SUV Clarett was driving early Wednesday.

"We're very confident that there was no intent to harm anyone," Mango said.

You have got to be kidding me? I guess thats an real safe defense. We are confident that a man with 4 loaded rifles was just going to drive around with them and then drive back home. :roll:


And go totally apeshit when pulled over....let's not forget that.

billy_oliver880
08-10-2006, 09:48 PM
Mango would not speculate on why four loaded guns - including an AK-47-style assault rifle - were in the SUV Clarett was driving early Wednesday.

"We're very confident that there was no intent to harm anyone," Mango said.

You have got to be kidding me? I guess thats an real safe defense. We are confident that a man with 4 loaded rifles was just going to drive around with them and then drive back home. :roll:


And go totally apeshit when pulled over....let's not forget that.

HAHA ya lest I forget. :neutral:

LEWCWA
08-10-2006, 10:02 PM
I feel nothing for this idiot! All the talent in the world, it is quite apparent to me that he is just a bad person!! Throw away the key...

Terry
08-11-2006, 08:19 AM
And go totally apeshit when pulled over....let's not forget that.

How do you know that exactly? Did I miss something?

Rastak
08-11-2006, 08:31 AM
And go totally apeshit when pulled over....let's not forget that.

How do you know that exactly? Did I miss something?



Well I wasn't exactly walking by when it happened but the news reports said he had to be wrestled down and tasered and maced.....then he tried to kick the squad car door out when they finally stuffed into the back seat.

I would catagorize that as "going apeshit".

Chester Marcol
08-11-2006, 11:22 AM
Unfortunately, things will only get worse for Clarett. One of 2 things will happen. Either he's killed or he will be convicted of killing someone. What else is there for him? He didn't go to college long enough to learn anything. Not sure his basket weaving classes that he did take will pan out much for him.

There is one other scenerio that's possible. If he gets sent up for a handful of years and he finishes his degree during that time and then makes something of himself when he gets out. Doubt it. I'll take the under on those odds.

Willard
08-11-2006, 11:26 AM
I feel nothing for this idiot! All the talent in the world, it is quite apparent to me that he is just a bad person!! Throw away the key...

Do you really think he should be put in prison for the rest of his life?

:shock: Wow!

Guiness
08-11-2006, 12:35 PM
I feel nothing for this idiot! All the talent in the world, it is quite apparent to me that he is just a bad person!! Throw away the key...

Do you really think he should be put in prison for the rest of his life?

:shock: Wow!

Agreed - it's a good thing they don't put everybody who kicks out squad car windows in jail...but I've said enough :razz:

swede
08-11-2006, 10:01 PM
And go totally apeshit when pulled over....let's not forget that.

How do you know that exactly? Did I miss something?



Well I wasn't exactly walking by when it happened but the news reports said he had to be wrestled down and tasered and maced.....then he tried to kick the squad car door out when they finally stuffed into the back seat.

I would catagorize that as "going apeshit".

A little sensitivity to the monkeys in the room, please.

This guy had all the tools to be another O.J. He apparently forgot that he needed to use his athletic gifts to build a H.O.F. football career before dressing up like Rambo and murdering someone.

LEWCWA
08-11-2006, 10:04 PM
No not for life, but I have a sneaking suspicion that he will spend most of his adult life behind bars!!!He is a bad guy and just doesn't get it!

HarveyWallbangers
08-11-2006, 10:05 PM
A little sensitivity to the monkeys in the room, please.

This guy had all the tools to be another O.J. He apparently forgot that he needed to use his athletic gifts to build a H.O.F. football career before dressing up like Rambo and murdering someone.

:D