By Sean Quinn
Usually, when 100 players get drafted before you, the media doesn’t pay that much attention to you. Usually, though, the 101st pick in the NFL Draft doesn’t have as much talent as Maurice Clarett.
The story from this year’s draft won’t be how much of a gamble the Denver Broncos took on Clarett, but what a steal they got with the final pick of the first round.There’s more gambling in a college kid’s dorm room than there was taking Clarett in the third round. Isn’t the whole NFL Draft, all professional drafts for that matter, risky? Who determines how much risk goes in to taking him, anyhow? The guys with the clocks at the NFL Combine? That’s where Clarett ran two dismal 40-yard dash times of 4.82 and 4.72 seconds. This time now apparently means more to NFL teams than what Clarett produced in college. Perhaps 10 seconds of running discounts 1,237 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns he scored his freshman year at Ohio State. And that was the same season Clarett missed three games due to injuries. Mel Kiper’s greasy, slicked back, Bath & Body Works polluted hair is more of a hazard to the environment than Clarett would be to an NFL team.
To be fair, though, Clarett did have off the field trouble, big trouble. He challenged the NFL’s policy of age requirements and was rejected, that kept him off the field. He was suspended by Ohio State after accepting hefty gifts from boosters, that also kept him off the field. Let’s not get sidetracked here, Clarett screwed up.
On his draft card it says he is from Ohio State, but Buckeye faithful don’t want his name associated with their school anymore. Not since Clarett’s allegations and investigations have led to the resignation of the OSU Athletic Director. Not since Clarett’s allegations against his former university will probably result in not only damaging the school’s integrity, but will probably result in NCAA postseason bans. This why No. 13 has been training back in Akron, Oh. because the people of Columbus no longer care for him or about him.
So what does this all mean for NFL teams? It means Clarett comes with baggage. Probably more baggage than Suzanne Somers has under her eyes. NFL executives know that off the field problems for Clarett could easily translate into on the field issues. Add in the fact that he hasn’t been on the playing field for over two years and now you begin to understand the dilemma.
That can all be erased, though, if Clarett scores a few touchdowns. That’s what Randy Moss did and he should be considered much more of a gamble than Clarett was. Moss slipped to pick No. 21 in the 1998 draft and had much more talent than any receiver that went before him or after him. The former Marshall star had questionable work ethics and off the field problems of the worst kind. His risk was erased when he rewarded the Vikings with 17 touchdowns his rookie season. If Clarett does even half that, the Broncos will forget all about his risks.
There was much more risk involved in picking a guy with an injury than in a guy like Maurice Clarett. Willis McGahee was drafted in the first round a couple years ago by the Buffalo Bills. Fortunately for them it looks like McGahee can be and already is a big time player on the NFL level. With a guy like McGahee you don’t know how he is going to bounce back from an injury, whereas with Clarett he just has to get back in the routine and he probably will be fine.
That’s a big probably, but if you are the Broncos you have to love this player you got in the third round. He’s not a third round player, he’s a first. So maybe his speed isn’t there right now, but Terrell Davis’ 40-yard time was worse than Clarett’s at the 1995 combine. He had enough talent to lead the Buckeyes to the 2003 title. And he has the mind of an NFL player. The best play he made in that 2003 National Championship against McGahee and the Miami Hurricanes was when he stripped the ball from a Miami defender.
So when the so-called experts projected Clarett to go in the fifth or sixth round, they were wrong. And most will be wrong about how he performs on the next level. It might take him some time to get started, as Denver is packed full of running backs right now, but Clarett will get his shot, every Denver running back does. Competing for time against Tatum Bell, Quentin Griffin, Mike Anderson and Ron Dayne won’t be a simple task. Clarett, however, does have something that they don’t have and that no other fellow rookie has – he has been waiting two long years to finally get his shot. And now that he has it, there will be no risk in giving him the football.
3 replies on “Bet on Denver’s newest Bronco”
Couldn’t be more right I am a student at The Ohio State University and I totally agree with your story. Its bogus to think that since the man ran a slow 40 time he has lost all of this football talent. He wasn’t running too slow when he ran down Sean Taylor in the Championship game as you touched on in your article. It isn’t like he got hurt, he just hasn’t played in two years so he might need more time. But given that time, he will produce. It was a great pick by the broncos.
Source? “Not since Clarett’s allegations and investigations have led to the resignation of the OSU Athletic Director. Not since Clarett’s allegations against his former university will probably result in not only damaging the school’s integrity, but will probably result in NCAA postseason bans.”
I’d like a source for these statements. If anything led to the AD’s retirement, other than the fact that he had been the AD for some time at OSU, it was Geiger’s decision to fire his close friend, Jim O’Brien and the controversy surrounding that situation.
I’d also like to point out that OSU has been fully cleared by the NCAA regarding the Clarrett situtation. The NCAA has publically announced that OSU handled the situation appropriately. I guess you must have missed that announcement since it was hidden in the fine print, instead on ESPN’s headlines.
The NCAA investigation does continue, however regarding Troy Smith and the Jim O’Brien situations. If any NCAA suspensions/bans are imposed, it won’t be a result of anything having to do with Mo Clarrett.
well I don’t think you can be so sure that any suspensions imposed by the NCAA would not have anything to do with Clarett. Possibly we will be fine with the Troy Smith situation. If not, one can only think we would have been except for all the accusations from clarett and others. If there are penalties from what happened with Troy Smith, I would bet they come with the Clarett situation in mind. Its been like a snowball effect and that is the real reason why our AD stepped down. Everything around him was falling apart, the integrity of our football program and basketball program. It was the only thing for him to do.