Armchair Quarterback: Clarett has yet to prove himself
I’m sick and tired about hearing of the exploits of suspended running back Maurice Clarett of The Ohio State University.
Here’s an 18-year-old kid who gets himself suspended from the defending national champions by allegedly turning in a false police report regarding an auto burglary and violating some other NCAA rules, and as a reward, he now wants to enter the NFL draft early. Word is he is considering a challenge of the NFL entry rule which prevents joining the professional ranks until you’re 21. And, some legal experts believe he may stand a real chance of winning his case in court, thereby opening the floodgates like we’ve seen recently with high schoolers joining the NBA.
However, professional football is a bit different from professional basketball. Sure, both are contact sports, but football is a sport where there are 300-pound animals whose muscles have muscles, who are paid millions to knock your block off on every play.
Gene Upshaw, former Oakland Raider standout who is now the head of the player’s association, agrees with the league that players should reach physical maturity before entering the league. Upshaw himself has been quoted saying he would have loved to play against a kid of Clarett’s age, noting he would have “whipped him” on the field. Of course, dollar signs often cause a person to do something which isn’t in his health’s best interest.
Something else Clarett should understand before he goes to court is that, although he played for the national champions in college, professional football is played at a different level. In numerous interviews I’ve heard with rookie players, the one thing they point out, to a man, is how much faster the professional game is. You have 300-pound linebackers who run 4.4-40s and defensive backs, quicker than a greased pig on meth, who hit with enough ferocity to put your lights out. Plus, Clarett would have a target on his head his first year as he would be seen as the young punk who challenged the status quo. Every player in the league would be out to prove to him that the NFL is a “man’s game” without room for boys who haven’t proven themselves.
And speaking of proving one’s self, what exactly did Clarett prove his first year? He was a running back behind one of the best lines in the country, a line which opened up holes large enough to drive a Toyota through. Plus, if you will recall, he missed considerable amounts of time during his freshman season because of injury. Look at Ohio State this year, no Clarett yet their backs are still getting it done.
Who knows, Clarett may be the next coming of Archie Griffin, but he’s proven nothing yet. If he’s so hot, why not take up the offer to play for Grambling for a year? Then we can see if it’s the player or the line. Or, just return to Ohio State next year and let everyone see if he can play by the rules this time. He might not understand it, but the NFL also has rules.
To let this unproven kid have his way after he blew his first chance at Ohio State would be a travesty to the game. It will tell other players that if you have a spark of talent, you can do what you want and be rewarded with a fat NFL contract. Plus, it would open the door to other kids with visions of riches right out of high school, and yes, there are pro teams who would draft them on spec. However, I believe the end result will be shorter careers for these unproven newcomers because they are not physically mature enough to play pro ball. Or, it may simply mean such a kid would end up falling into obscurity because he cannot excel his first couple of years in the league, thereby killing a promising career had he just reached maturity before entering the league.