RB Maurice Clarett (B1G Freshman of the Year, National Champion)

[Fungo Squiggly]

Something tells me he's going to make it.

Yeah, except that it's 12:45 in the afternoon.

 

[Buckskin86]

Sarah A. Friedman for ESPN
"I'll tell them in a minute, I'm an 18-year-old SOB."

Good to go- 2002 article ESPN

 

[wadc45]

Wake me when he touches a rugby ball.

I know the Tiger Rugby guys well. They are very good promoters. This will bring a new level of attention to their program. But to talk about MoC as a possible Olympian? Absurdly premature.

 

[RugbyBuck]

Admittedly, a huge IF but what IF... Even if he flames out the sport will get more mainstream publicity. There was already a USA Today article last week. I don't know that rugby here has ever gotten that kind of coverage. I think his making the 2016 side is plausible because our overall talent level isn't all that great by international standards. We have better coaching now but we still are well down the IRB rankings again this year.

Also, I take back the one trick pony comment as to Isles. He's definitely at least a TWO-trick pony. The try he scored in Hong Kong was legit.

 

[Westside]

No disrespect intended, but you're wrong about Isles altogether. He's still learning, but has all the skills. Often, guys who are quick and small shy away from contact but he doesn't. Even if Mo makes the sevens side and does well, Isles will be the star come 2016. I've been playing and watching rugby about 15 years now, there's as much anticipation from the crowd (foreign crowds mind you) when he gets the ball as anyone I can remember, maybe with the exception of Jonah Lomu.

Another cool thing to note, if Nate Ebner can somehow set some time aside from the Pats, or if he isn't in the league any longer, we could potentially have three Ohioans (and two football Bucks) playing prominent roles in the US team at the Olympics.

 

[RugbyBuck]

None taken and I don't think we disagree about him. He's already a better overall player than Miles Craigwell. I think he's got the right instincts and obviously he has speed but he's limited by his size and I don't think he can be dominant other than on the edges... for awhile, anyway. Lot of heart from him in the try I posted in the Other Sports forum.

Would love to see Ebner get a shot at it. He brings physicality to flyhalf that you don't see very often.

Clarett is wait and see. If he catches fire, though, I think he'll crush 7s for a year or so.

 

[Buckskin86]

Maurice Clarett prepping for one more comeback, but not in the NFL

(Getty Images)"There's no tipping point where you become what you are. Character development starts when you're growing up. Your socioeconomic background contributes. The attitude that gets you through some communities doesn't work in corporate America. It's not an excuse, but it does help explain."
? Maurice Clarett, March 29, 2013


These days, Maurice Clarett speaks in paragraphs ? long, unfurling stretches of dialogue that cover multiple topics, then end as quickly as if he were dropping the ball to the turf after scoring a touchdown. Only one question trips him up: Imagine it's 2003 and you have a chance to talk to this Clarett kid who's just led his team to a national championship. What do you tell him?

"Oh, man," Clarett says, then pauses for a moment. "I don't know. I don't know that there's anything I could tell him. It's all a process, how you get to where you are."

And where Clarett is right now is training for a comeback, only this time it's not in the NFL, but ? in rugby.

To understand how this came to be ? how one of college football's most dynamic players of the last decade never played a down in the NFL ? you have to know whole story.

cont...

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--maurice-clarett-prepping-for-one-more-comeback-152117424.html

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0wiWJ1uFiU"]Maurice Clarett on The Doug Gottlieb Show - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjyQkIkhSK0"]Maurice Clarett and Daniel "Boom" Herron at The Woody Hayes Ath Ctr - YouTube[/ame]

 

[WolverineMike]

http://thecwc.net/#/maurice-clarett

Maurice Clarett will be the featured guest speaker at Cypress Alton Darby campus, sharing his story of lessons learned on and off the field.

Clarett was on the fast track to success in the athletic world, being named USA Today’s High School Player of the Year, breaking records and scoring game-winning touchdowns in his freshmen year of Big Ten football, when life as he knew it started to unravel. Come hear his deeply personal story of success, defeat, and climbing out of your circumstances to a better life.

Local high school teams are invited to attend a special “meet and greet” session with Clarett following his talk. Wear your jerseys and let us know you’re coming so we can reserve your seats and give your team a shout out by emailing [email protected]

times/locations:
April 20 (6pm) & April 21 (9:00/10:15/11:45am)
Cypress Alton Darby Campus
377 Alton Darby Creek Rd. Galloway

Dublin campus will watch via video
April 21 (10:00am)
Dublin Coffman High School
6780 Coffman Rd. Dublin

will be speaking at my church 4/20 and 4/21

 

[Buckskin86]

Clarett trying to right his wrongs
April 24, 2013
By MIKE McLAIN - Tribune Chronicle ([email protected]) , Tribune Chronicle | TribToday.com

Speaking to a group of students recently, Maurice Clarett asked a young man what he wants to be when he grows up.

Like many boys who are awed by the spectacle and attraction of professional sports, he said his goal is to play football or basketball.

"It almost made me cringe," Clarett said.

Growing up in Youngstown, the desire to play professional sports was intoxicating for Clarett. Gifted beyond anything his peers could imagine, Clarett was a once-in-a-lifetime football prodigy. He ran over and around players at will, leaving smallish defensive backs grasping for air while looking away in the hope they didn't make contact with his powerful, churning legs.

It came so easy for Clarett that he never had time to slow down and let life come to him. He was always in a hurry to get to the next place. When he attended Warren G. Harding High School, he wanted to be in college. As a freshman at Ohio State University, he wanted to be in the NFL.

There was that neighborhood in Youngstown from which he had to escape. There was that pot of gold glimmering so close to his face that he could almost touch it.

If Clarett had only had the voracious appetite for reading that he has now. If only he could have processed his hopes and dreams as he does now. Maybe, just maybe, he could have avoided the trappings that led to the tragedy that became his life after one incredibly successful season of college football.

cont...

http://tribune-chronicle.com/page/c...rett-trying-to-right-his-wrongs.html?nav=5024

Tressel not surprised by new life of Clarett
April 24, 2013
By MIKE McLAIN - Tribune Chronicle ([email protected]) , Tribune Chronicle | TribToday.com

There was never a hesitation in Jim Tressel's mind when Maurice Clarett called and asked for a favor.

Clarett was putting together Saturday's charity basketball game for Victory Christian's Riot Youth Center and he needed a celebrity coach. Who better than Tressel, who coached Clarett on Ohio State University's 2002 national championship football team?

Tressel will be at Struthers Fieldhouse for the 1 p.m. game that will feature several current and former football players from the Mahoning Valley. He's doing it to help not only a former Buckeye, but, more importantly, to help a friend who has made a 180 in his life.

"He's on a mission to make a difference in the life of kids or any life he can touch," Tressel said. "I think he always had that passion. He had a detour there and from that he learned some great lessons. I always knew he had it in his heart to help people."

Tressel has remained in Clarett's corner through the most difficult of times. There were multiple arrests, a dramatic police chase through the streets of Columbus and an eventual incarceration.

It was in prison that Clarett began to show Tressel the side of him that never surfaced when he was absorbed with his goal to strike it rich in the NFL.

"He's a deep thinker," Tressel said. "He's a communicator. I suppose if you spend time in jail there are a couple of ways you can go. You can decide to get better or decide to get mad at the world. He decided he wanted to collect his thoughts and read, and he read a lot. He knew he was certain that when the next opportunities arose he would be able to take advantage of them."

Tressel thinks Clarett is uniquely qualified to help young people and direct the ones who are accepting of his knowledge in the right direction.

"No question," Tressel said. "I think the fact that he has straddled so many experiences, from high school superstar to college superstar to the consequences (of prison), he's experienced the gamut. There's no one that can say to him you don't understand. He understands. He's lived it."

cont...

http://www.tribtoday.com/page/conte...urprised-by-new-life-of-Clarett.html?nav=5024

 

[Buckskin86]

Helping out a friend
Local stars gather in game
April 28, 2013
Tribune Chronicle | TribToday.com
By MATT WAGNER
Tribune Chronicle

STRUTHERS - Growing up in Warren and having an older brother who was friends with Warren G. Harding legend Maurice Clarett, Dan Herron idolized Clarett as a kid.

Tribune Chronicle / R. Michael Semple
Former Warren G. Harding and Ohio State football player Maurice Clarett, left, puts his arms around his former OSU coach Jim Tressel during introductions to ?The Comeback Project??charity basketball game on Saturday in Struthers.

He did so much that after a successful career at Harding, he made the move to Columbus to play running back at Ohio State, where Clarett played for one season.

"I've known Maurice Clarett since he was in high school," Dan said. "I was running around with those guys when I was a young boy in elementary school. He broke all the records out of Harding. For me to go to Harding (after him), and he went to Ohio State and I went to Ohio State. ... He was definitely somebody I looked up to."

Therefore, the current Cincinnati Bengals running back needed zero persuasion when Clarett asked him to be apart of a charity basketball game while the two were working out during Herron's offseason.

Dan and his older brother Dave took part in Clarett's charity game, "The Comeback Project," at Struthers Fieldhouse on Saturday to help out The Riot, a youth center for Victory Christian Center in Lowellville. Among the star-studded cast was former Youngstown State and Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, Hubbard graduate Anthony Smith, Harding graduate Prescott Burgess, Chaney graduate Brad Smith and current Cleveland Browns running back Trent Richardson.

Clarett's lead blocker at Harding, Dave Herron jumped at the opportunity to play when his old teammate and friend called him and told him about the game.

"He called me and was like, 'I'm doing a charity game,' " Dave said. "Right there, I said, 'I'm in - just give me the date and time.' Once he gave me that, I was scheduled to come. Anything for the community and anything for a good friend."

Giving back to the community played a huge role in all of these athletes' decisions to join Clarett and the Herron brothers, and Tressel said this is one aspect that makes the Mahoning Valley special.

"It's one of the blessings about growing up in Ohio, and I'm sure everyone has pride in where they grew up," Tressel said. "Our good folks never forget about one another, and they invest their most valuable things, which is their time to help their communities."

cont...

http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/586746/Helping-out-a-friend.html?nav=5024

Clarett, Tressel and friends come back for a cause
Published: Sun, April 28, 2013
By Steve Wilaj
[email protected]

A surprise starter for The Comeback Project Team, Jim Tressel ditched his accustomed sweater vest and laced up his sneakers for Saturday?s charity basketball game at the Struthers Fieldhouse.

?I haven?t played basketball in a long time and I?m glad I leave without any injuries,? Tressel said after going 0 for 2 and being held scoreless. ?The first one rattled in and out. Then I lost my confidence after that.?

While the former Youngstown State and Ohio State football coach had a rough outing, more importantly, Tressel, Maurice Clarett and six other local football stars lead a successful charity event as part of The Comeback Project.

Raising money for the Riot Youth Center at Victory Christian Center in Lowellville, approximately 1,800 people packed the Fieldhouse as the Tressel-led squad defeated members of the Riot Youth Center, 73-50.

In addition to the game, Tressel and the players signed autographs and mingled with fans.

?It was great to see guys come back to their community,? Tressel said. ?Just a bunch of good people, a great cause and it was a lot of fun.?

cont....

http://www.vindy.com/news/2013/apr/28/sports-figures-give-back/

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJJjrkBBMXY"]The Comeback Project's Charity Basketball Game - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Buckskin86]

The Ohio Rugby Sevens Invitational in Mechanicsburg on May 25 will have an attraction beyond the four men?s and four college teams competing: Former Ohio State football star Maurice Clarett will be playing. Clarett will play for the Columbus affiliate of Tiger Rugby, the rugby development program for selecting the team the will represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2013/05/17/clarett-will-play-in-rugby-event.html

 

[RugbyBuck]

How'd you like to be the first guy who has to try to tackle MoC in the open field without pads and a helmet?

I'd love to see video of this. I think we'll be able to tell right away whether the experiment will work out or not. Not from whether he dominates club (even top-level club) rugby players or not but from the way he moves with and without the ball, the angles he choose to take, whether he's there in support, where he is in space on defense and how he approaches tackles. For the moment, I'm still thinking that it works out and he gets a shot at Rio... baby steps first, though.

 

[Westside]

Disappointing, but never the less it's good Mo is finding positive outlets, whether it's speaking or other sports.

Clarett No Longer With Tiger Rugby
Sevens - Club Sevens


Just over a month after news broke that former Ohio State star Maurice Clarett had joined Tiger Rugby in an effort to make the 7s National Team in time for the 2016 Olympics, Clarett is no longer with the Olympic Development Academy. He has been unavailable for Tiger training sessions for weeks, but has made it to a couple of 1823 practices.

It's unclear at this time if Clarett will be playing rugby anytime in the near future, despite false reports indicating that he is set to compete in his first tournament this weekend.

"Maurice has huge potential, however at this time, Tiger Academy doesn't seem to fit into his schedule," said Tiger Rugby director Paul Holmes.

"Maurice is very busy and is doing great things with his charity work, and we wish him nothing but the best and hope to see him play with the local 1823 Club here in Columbus when he has the time, however he will no longer be training with the Tiger Academy. He was a very positive person and player and was great to have around the team when his time permitted. Again, we wish him the best of luck and hope that we see him on the pitch with 1823."

 

[ScriptOhio]

He has a TV commercial, saw it today on a local Columbus station:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYxJzwNX84g"]Maurice Clarett Endorses Columbus Approved - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Buckskin86]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM9sDvB8hpM"]Welcome to Maurice Clarett Online - YouTube[/ame]