| Travis Heath. 19th August, 2005 - 6:16 pm
 I should have seen it coming. I mean, I have relatives from Ohio who root for Ohio State, and I was forewarned about this character. But, I decided to go against my own -- and my family’s -- better judgment and give the kid a chance.
It’s not as though I didn’t have a valid reason to believe that Maurice Clarett could be a player – especially for the Broncos. I can count on one finger the number of running backs coach Mike Shanahan has missed on in the past. This time though, it looks like Shanahan may have bitten off more than he could chew.
Clarett practiced for the first time in a long while on Thursday, which just happened to be the final practice of training camp 2005. A phantom groin injury had kept him on the sideline for the better part of the last two weeks. Doctors had indicated that an MRI indicated no damage to Clarett’s groin, and they cleared him to return to practice nearly 10 days ago. However, Clarett chose not to come back, preferring instead to stand on the sidelines and watch while his teammates busted their backsides in the hot Colorado sun.
Shanahan -- who some have characterized as a latter day version of Napoleon (yes, that’s my Dennis Miller impersonation) -- has not exactly exhibited patience in the past in dealing with players who don’t deliver (please see Gardener, Daryl or Carter, Dale). Shanahan has openly showed his growing frustration with Clarett when speaking to the media in recent days, insinuating that he can’t evaluate a player who doesn’t practice. Veteran leaders on the team like Champ Bailey have even voiced their concern with regard to the situation.
So, why would Clarett hold himself out of practice for nearly two weeks giving himself no chance whatsoever to move up Denver’s crowded depth chart at the running back position, while simultaneously alienating himself from his head coach and his teammates? Well, it’s the humble opinion of this columnist, that Clarett is trying to get cut. That’s right, he doesn’t want to be a part of the 2005 Denver Broncos.
I don’t know who Clarett’s agent is, but he’s obviously not the sharpest tool in the shed. Clarett agreed to sign a four-year contract with a base salary of $230,000 and no signing bonus. His contract was instead based on incentives that could push the running back’s salary to over $7 million. In a league with no guaranteed contracts, a signing bonus represents the only guaranteed money that a player receives. So, essentially Clarett is guaranteed no money, and the Broncos could cut him without losing much -- except of course the third round pick they used to draft him.
I believe that Clarett, who started number five on the depth chart, quickly realized that he had no chance of seeing any regular season action in orange and blue this year. As a result, he conveniently felt some tightness in his groin to avoid practicing -- which of course is the quickest way to not make a team as an unproven rookie who has been out of football for two years. If indeed he were cut, it would allow Clarett to catch on with another club where he might have a chance to earn -- or more aptly put, fall into -- some playing time. So, rather than work hard and try to make the Broncos roster, it’s easier just to quit and try to move elsewhere.
This can’t come as a shock to anyone, since Clarett quit on Ohio State, throwing his former coach and football program under the proverbial bus in the process. You see, Clarett is a not so shining example of today’s prototypical star athlete, complete with a severely bloated sense of entitlement. He performed horribly at the combine, and he showed up to camp out of shape. But, Clarett still believed that he should be able to just show up and start for the Broncos.
Clarett’s arrogance really shined through when he was quoted as saying the following about his groin injury, “Would Mike Tyson fight with a broken fist? Would Carl Lewis run with a hamstring injury? I’ve got to be smart.” After reading this -- once the laughter died down -- I couldn’t help but be stunned at how highly this guy thinks of himself without the benefit of a single carry in an NFL game.
If Clarett can’t succeed in the Denver Broncos system at running back -- which has produced the likes of Terrell Davis, Clinton Portis, Mike Anderson et. al. – then one has to question whether he can succeed anywhere. Here’s for hoping that Clarett gets his wish, and is given a one-way ticket out of town.
Besides, if Clarett can’t find another NFL gig, my relatives told me Ohio State is looking for someone to clean the locker rooms after games . . . wait what’s that . . . oh, well they just told me that there’s one other young man that he’d have to beat out for the job. Guess that means Clarett will have to look elsewhere. |
