Clarett angered at decision forcing him to miss funeral [Ohio St. star frets about poor & homeless]

CBS.Sportline.com ^ | Dec. 30, 2002 | AP

[willieroe]

PHOENIX -- Ohio State tailback Maurice Clarett, upset over missing the funeral of a lifelong friend, said Monday that colleges care more about football than they do about life.

Speaking before the No. 2-ranked Buckeyes' showdown for the national title against Miami in the Fiesta Bowl on Friday, Clarett said Ohio State "gave him the runaround" and "told me it was a (NCAA) compliance issue" when he asked to fly home for the service Monday.

"They didn't really give me an answer to the question," he said of university officials. "I guess football's more important than a person's life to them. That's why I'm ready to get this game over and go back home."

Clarett set Ohio State freshman records this season with 1,190 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns.

Ohio State sports information director Steve Snapp said he was unaware of Clarett's request to fly home to Youngstown, Ohio. Snapp said he was aware only that Clarett's friend was killed.

Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger was not immediately available to comment.

Clarett declined to give the name of his friend, who he said was shot last week.

He said he was affected not only by the death but by Ohio State's response.

"I'm kind of messed up now because they jerked me kind of," Clarett said. "I really wanted to go back. I'm not really supposed to be here. But it's cool. Things happen in life, there's bumps in the road like every thing else. But I'll be all right."

Earlier in the season, Clarett had talked about other friends who had not been able to escape the streets in the Rust Belt city. He said he had lost several friends and relatives and that he thought of them every day when he considered how fortunate he was to have a scholarship and the opportunity to better himself.

Clarett said it was difficult to keep a football game in perspective in light of what is going on back home.

"Life's a whole lot more important than football, you know what I mean? We hold the national championship but they won't talk about the homeless and the poor," he said. "We're sitting here in this old grand hotel, things like that, but we can't feed the homeless or poor. ... It's a game."

Clarett was a toddler when his father left home. His mother, Michelle, is the chief deputy clerk for the municipal court in Youngstown.

As he was growing up, he saw people killed in the streets. Once he was playing football in the street when a boy sitting nearby was killed in a drive-by shooting. Another time, Clarett was sitting on the front porch of the house he shared with his mother, grandmother, two brothers and 11 cousins. They saw a neighbor's friend be shot in the chest, crawl into Clarett's front yard and bleed to death.

Clarett said his goal was to funnel money back to people who need it the most.

"You go through downtown Columbus, you've got people sleeping on sidewalks. You know what I mean? And they're giving us scholarships and they're selling 100,000 tickets every game," he said.

"It's the richest part of Columbus, downtown, but you're walking past bums and homeless people. This is wintertime, it's like 19 degrees down there. They're sleeping in boxes and little covers. It don't make any sense to me."

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Copyright 2002, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved

[csvset]

Don't forget Mercury Morris, he did 3.5 years for cocaine. He did, however, have his conviction overturned and is now free.

[ken5050]

Doesn't the hardship draft preclude that?

[TheCause]

“I don't think Ohio State belongs in a bowl to determine the national championship. If any team does, its USC. Hope Iowa can stay with em.”

Well, Ohio State is in the “bowl to determine the national championship” (Fiesta Bowl).

“USC”???? You have got to be sh%ttin me. USC sucks. Oh, and thinking is something you should be careful with. It is a good thing that your thoughts do not matter.

The Ohio State University Buckeyes 13-0! USC……well….?

GO BUCKS

[rabidralph]

Why would the school be responsible for flying him to Ohio and back?

The school wouldn't be responsible for flying him back. I think all he was asking for was permission to be excused from his football duties so that he could fly back for the funeral. Where he gets the money for the plane ticket is another matter.

[tang-soo]

Just the kind of complex sociological analysis I'd expect from someone who's too stupid to get into state college without a sports scholarship.

How do you know what's in this kid's head? Have you seen his scores? One thing I've learned over the years is to not accept the idea the media perpetuates that all jocks are stupid. Your comment says much the same. I've heard Maurice in several interviews and he comes across as very intelligent. Also, He pushes his teammates to excel and has done so from the beginning of the season. This from a true freshman. Whether at OSU or elsewhere, I think he has a potential for being a true leader some day. How many time do we say "its just a game?" Well, it is and he had the nereve to say so.

As for the air flight back home, yes, the NCAA is to blame for this. The school can place the students in a 5 star hotel during the bowl game where they can be served steak for breakfast, but on campus, if a coach buys a player a five dollar lunch, he's in trouble with the NCAA pencil pushers. he sees the hypocracy and has the nads to say so.

[wideawake]

Football is just a game. If my coach told me I couldn't attend a friend's funeral, I'd tell him to stuff it.

I wouldn't skip my friend's funeral because Coach told me to and then bitch and moan about it afterwards.

[lugsoul]

No doubt that USC finished the season on fire. I can't stand OSU and Big Ten football, but these guys won all their games. Until we have a playoff system, that has to mean something. So I'm not sure how anyone can say a two-loss team has more of a right to play for the title than an undefeated team.

[wideawake]

Because he seems to believe that he has no free will. He doesn't seem to realize that he can tell his coach that he's going to his friend's funeral anyway.

Additionally, he's talking about the homeless situation and complaining that the commercialization of college ball leaves the homeless behind. If he cared that strongly about it, he do something rather than whining. Typical limousine liberal.

[patj]

Aren't there rules in the NCAA that the school cannot give him money to fly home? I believe I have heard a similar situation and the rules say "no".

[jz638]

He played very well this season, but I wouldn't laud praise just on this one comment. His "style" so far in college has been showing up for a press conference with his jersey on backwards so that everyone would know his name, and joking that the NFL wouldn't be all that tough after a half season of success in college.

He may well be a decent guy who was just proud to be doing so well, youth and success rarely breed modesty.

I'm betting he is at the bowl festivities instead of home because he couldn't get OSU to pay for the flight, not because he was restricted from leaving the area.

[Snuffington]

I don't think Ohio State belongs in a bowl to determine the national championship. If any team does, its USC. Hope Iowa can stay with em.

Nah. USC is this year's Colorado. Playing terrifically at the end of the year is great for a playoff system. But it's not enought to qualify you in a system that takes the entire season into account. With two losses, USC is lucky to be ranked as highly as they are.

[JoeSixPack1]

How do you know he's stupid?

"It's the richest part of Columbus, downtown, but you're walking past bums and homeless people. This is wintertime, it's like 19 degrees down there. They're sleeping in boxes and little covers. It don't make any sense to me."

Maybe you should read his words and answer that one for yourself. But, to be liberal about it, you could call him naive and stupid. But then you'd have to add "brainwashed socialist in training".

[Henchman]

"It's the richest part of Columbus, downtown, but you're walking past bums and homeless people. This is wintertime, it's like 19 degrees down there. They're sleeping in boxes and little covers. It don't make any sense to me." ... YOU ARE RIGHT! Time for them to get a JOB! Such a move would be of double benefit - First they come off the public dole and secondly, they can pay for some of the deficits they caused.

[cksharks]

I bet if you took a magnifying glass and searched the bottom of his cleats you would not find any nail holes. If he wanted to go all he had to do was leave. He didnt so shut the hell up.

[oust the louse]

His father is alive and works in the Y-town area for a friend of mine.He seems to be a nice enough fellow from what I hear...

[Apollo]

Ohio State tailback Maurice Clarett, upset over missing the funeral of a lifelong friend, said Monday that colleges care more about football than they do about life.

He must feel the same way if he choose not to attend the funeral.

[snippy_about_it]

Clarett may challenge NFL to enter draft :

http://enquirer.com/editions/2002/10/17/spt_clarett_may.html

[VMI70]

Any college freshman who can't put an english language sentence together deserves the appellation of "stupid".

If I were a college president, I would be horrified that anyone would let any of the these semiliterate overgrown thugs go on TV. What a terrible representation for the so-called "institutions of higher learning".

It is time to stop this farce, and simply admit what big college football programs are: Farm teams for the NFL.

[snippy_about_it]

Clarett's mother, Michelle, confirmed that the friend was Juaquin A. "Juan" Bell, 23, of Youngstown.

"It's a friendship they had growing up," she said. "Young people need to say goodbye. It's unfortunate, but you have to go by the rules."

Youngstown police said Bell was shot multiple times Dec. 21. They said drugs, money, and bullet casings were found at the scene. No one had been arrested.

http://www.beaufortgazette.com/24hour/sports/story/694958p-5149865c.html

[Wild Irish Rogue]

"You go through downtown Columbus, you've got people sleeping on sidewalks. You know what I mean? And they're giving us scholarships and they're selling 100,000 tickets every game," he said.


"It's the richest part of Columbus, downtown, but you're walking past bums and homeless people. This is wintertime, it's like 19 degrees down there. They're sleeping in boxes and little covers. It don't make any sense to me."

I assume by his words,that come draft time, we can expect Maurice to donate his signing bonus to the homeless?