I am not a fan of professional athletes. I think that most of them are overpaid and overglorified. (I know that there are exceptions to every rule.) I also think the greed extends to almost everything connected to professional sports. As such, I avoid them. I may be poor, but if I get any wealth I'll share it in non-sports related venues.
I have only two connections to sports. 1) An passionate love for Notre Dame football (and it's not connected to w/l record). 2) My boyfriend loves football, so I follow it vaguely so that I can actually have conversations about it with him.
I have been watching the ongoing Maurice Clarett saga for the past year. For those not familiar with Clarett, some background is in order. During his freshman year, 2002-2003, at Ohio State, the running back phenom contributed to his team's championship season.
Things haven't been going so well for Clarett since then. Last year, a NCAA investigation revealed that Clarett had broken the rules and received money from a family friend. He sued Ohio State for violation of his privacy for cooperating with the investigation and releasing information the university had pertaining to his bad behavior. Wow, trying to strongarm a university into covering for you. Amazing, Maurice. My personal favorite is how he filed a police report regarding items stolen from the car he was driving, on loan, from a dealership. Oooh, that's not something NCAA likes, and he remembered that and tried to cover about the theft, and then he was questioned for filing a false report. I'm guessing Clarett was studying pre-law.
It gets better yet. In what was most likely a proactive move to avoid NCAA wrath, OSU gave him a year suspension from the team. Can you feel the love in the locker room? Clarett broke the rules and was being punished for it, and I'm sure he felt he was being done a great injustice. Since "they" wouldn't let him be paid for his college career, he decided to go legit and head for the pros. There was one little problem, an NFL eligibility rule that would requires draftees to be out of high school for 3 years before joining the NFL. Poor Clarett wasn't even a full 2 years yet.
But if you're an athlete, especially this one, rules shouldn't apply, so Clarett took the NFL to court claiming the rule denied him his right to make a living. Excuse me while I go cry a river. After winning his case initially, Clarett's win was reversed on appeal. He submitted appeals to two Supreme Court justices to be included in this year's draft. Now, I generally like my Supreme Court justices to be serious, but I like to think that when they took time from considering the case recently presented to them regarding the detainees in Cuba to look at the appeal of a whiny college football player (technically former, he dropped out of OSU), I hope they had a good laugh. Both justices decided they matter wasn't as urgent as Clarett made it since the NFL indicated they would hold a supplemental draft should the rule be overturned. To make matters even better, while the NCAA said that they would consider making Clarett and his other agent-acquiring defectors re-eligible for college play should they lose their case, OSU has indicated they don't want Clarett back. There is some justice.
As a result, I really rather enjoyed watching 5 out of the 7 rounds of the NFL draft with my boyfriend because Maurice Clarett was barely mentioned all weekend. It's nice to know that he wasn't missed. On the other hand, Pat Tillman was discussed everywhere which I consider more than fitting.
For those unaware, Pat Tillman was a pretty amazing man, and a former NFL player for the Arizona Cardinals. He played for Arizona State, got his degree in 3 1/2 years with a GPA of roughly 3.8. He was well rounded and gave his all to everything. This man had his priorities right. After 9/11, he felt he could be doing more, and with his brother, they joined the Army Rangers. In today's state of sports media, he refused to do interviews regarding the decision because he apparently didn't want to stand apart from his military brethern. He died in action in Afghanistan last Friday. He doesn't have the choice now, people are talking about what a great man because that's what we do about great people. This man was a role model.
We could all learn something from Pat Tillman, but for the time being this is about Maurice Clarett and what he can learn from Pat Tillman. I'm not without feeling for Clarett and would like to see him drafted, into military service. He could do with a little less self-entitlement and a little more self-sacrifice. Plus, he could learn the true meaning of teamwork. In the end, he would be a man worth the respect he isn't getting now. I like the idea of petitioning Clarett for military service because I think it would do him good. Maybe the MiscKaren fan club will back me on it.
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