OT: Maurice Clarett arrested again

[abomb]

That article by Tom Friend, ESPN, is excellent.

Caught a little of the Jim Rome show on the radio at lunch time. Skip Bayless (I think) was guest hosting. Some caller comes on talking about how in 7 or 8 years from now, "when he gets out of prison", Clarett is going to become All-Pro. All of his current problems will be forgotten about and Clarett is going to be the hottest thing in pro football...

This guy was totally serious, and didn't sound intoxicated. Dude was more wacked than Clarett himself! Incredible.

The only thing worse than Skip Bayless, is someone who would call to talk to Skip Bayless.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

The only thing worse than Skip Bayless, is someone who would call to talk to Skip Bayless.

Well said, what a tool.

 

[arthurracoon]

That article by Tom Friend, ESPN, is excellent.

yea,

what a sad story

 

[Big Deal]

That story is terrifying. How can someone act like that?

 

[CaliCards]

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Is it me, or does Clarett's blank stare seem creepy? Looking at that pic and watching his arraignment on TV, I got the impression that Clarett may be more than a former College football player and knuckle-head who got caught up on the wrong side of the law.

Now, it may be that he is just an arrogant 22-year-old young man who haven’t yet grasp the seriousness of his latest predicament, but the dude does seem void of emotion for someone in that type of trouble with the law.

 

[BACH]

That story is terrifying. How can someone act like that?

Did anyone watch the video atttached to the ESPN article?

Friend is speculating that the people in the rap industry, that have supported Clarett financially throughout the whole situation, have realized that Clarett isn't going to make it in the NFL, and might want their money back, which has forced Clarett into this situation.

 

[Pariah]

Did anyone watch the video atttached to the ESPN article?

Friend is speculating that the people in the rap industry, that have supported Clarett financially throughout the whole situation, have realized that Clarett isn't going to make it in the NFL, and might want their money back, which has forced Clarett into this situation.

And worse, that they might have been after his baby daughter to exact their pound of flesh.

 

[Russ Smith]

Wow.

...Tell you what, if someone was going after his daughter, that's one helluva better explaination for arming to the teeth than anything else I've heard.

The baby girl thing to me sounds like he's saying if they come after me, they're coming after my family. From the sound of it not too many people even knew Clarett was a father now, unless he's been in constant contact with these rap people, it's unlikely they knew either.

But it's pretty clear he's paranoid. Alcoholism can do that to you but I suspect this is a guy with more problems than just alcohol, probably has clinical depression.

The stuff you read about when he was with the Broncos now makes a lot more sense, I think this was a guy facing for the first time in his life the reality that he couldn't just show up and be the best player on the field, he was totally out of shape, and he just expected Denver to hand him the starting job right away.

Very sad story I really do hope he turns it around but I think going to jail is probably the best thing that can happen to him at the moment.

 

[abomb]

Hiring Suge Knight as a business associate is never a good plan.

 

[NEZCardsfan]

This is going to end very tragically.

 

[Southpaw]

Lawyer: Clarett has ties to alleged Israeli mobster

Lawyer: Clarett has ties to alleged Israeli mobster
ESPN

Maurice Clarett was bankrolled by an alleged member of an Israeli crime organization after leaving Ohio State, ESPN has learned, and Clarett's attorney said Thursday that his client may have been in possession of firearms last week to protect himself against mob activity.

Clarett's attorney, Nick Mango, said Thursday that Clarett has repeatedly received death threats over the past year but that a cryptic postcard sent from Los Angeles last week has him wondering about Clarett's ties to an alleged mob enforcer.

In the late summer of 2004, ESPN has learned, Clarett traveled to Los Angeles and was introduced by a rapper friend to Hai Waknine, 35, a convicted felon who prosecutors believe is a member of an Israeli crime organization called The Jerusalem Group. Waknine, who at the time was being indicted on extortion and money-laundering charges, became Clarett's sponsor and adviser, along with Waknine's attorney, David Kenner. Waknine provided Clarett with cash, a BMW, bodyguards, drivers and beachfront lodging in Malibu, with the understanding that he would be reimbursed and receive 60 percent of Clarett's rookie contract.

But when Clarett was released by the Denver Broncos in August 2005, he was unable to pay Waknine back, and ESPN has learned that Waknine eventually cut off Clarett financially. Clarett moved back to his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, that fall.

After Clarett was arrested last week, allegedly wearing a bulletproof vest and possessing four guns and a hatchet, Clarett's attorneys received an anonymous phone call alerting them to Clarett's ties to Waknine. They grew more suspicious when they received the threatening postcard this week.

Mango said he is concerned that postcard, sent to his law office, may have come from Waknine.

"That's our question, whether it's from him or people associated with that scene out there," Mango told ESPN. "Again, it came from Los Angeles, and we don't know what to make of that. ... We're going to turn this over to someone in law enforcement and see what they think [of the postcard]. ... We've always felt he had some reasons to fear for his safety, and we don't think any of his actions the night he was arrested -- despite the way it's been spun -- were that he was a threat to anyone else but more of him being in fear for his safety for quite some time."

Mango also said he believes Clarett's debt may have something to do with the threats.

"I believe he owes [Waknine] money, and I think [Waknine] is probably not the only one" he owes, Mango said. "Whether it's someone all the way on that coast or more on this side of the country; it's no one that I'd want to owe money to. ... A call came to our office [about Waknine], kind of giving us a rumored story. It's been kind of tossed around by us, and quite frankly, Youngstown has quite a reputation -- if you don't know it already -- for the Italian side of that ballgame. And everyone here thought, 'Well, you wonder with money changing hands ...' Having heard the things we've heard, this is a little more concerning."

Waknine's current relationship with Clarett is not clear, although two hours before Clarett's arrest, the running back called an ESPN reporter and mentioned, in passing, that he and Waknine were still friends. However, ESPN has learned that the FBI contacted Clarett about his relationship with Waknine before the 2005 draft, and it is unknown whether Clarett cooperated.

Waknine went on trial on June 5, and he pleaded guilty a week later to a single racketeering charge, admitting that he threatened violence to extort money from several individuals. Waknine, who was unavailable for comment Thursday, is expected to receive a nine-year prison term at his sentencing Sept. 11. His attorney, Kenner -- the former lawyer for Death Row Records and its founder, Marion "Suge" Knight -- did not return phone messages.

It's no secret, however, that Waknine provided Clarett with a life of luxury from August 2004 to August 2005.

"When I worked with Maurice, he had Hai and a very high-profile lawyer," said Charles Poliquin, who trained Clarett in November and December 2004 in Phoenix. "There are not a lot of guys that want to play pro football who have a team of lawyers and money men backing them up, and, for sure, they had his best interests at heart. But he was living too nice a life. Too nice. He was living in Malibu. Right on the beach. I've been to the house. [Waknine] owned like 10 cars and said, 'Pick whatever car you want.'"

But money eventually became an issue, especially for all of Clarett's three personal trainers. None of them -- Poliquin, Chad Ikei and Todd Durkin -- was ever paid for his services, and when one contacted a member of Clarett's inner circle to be reimbursed, he was told, "You'll get paid when I get paid."

Mango said he has neither the time nor the resources to investigate Waknine, but he found the threatening postcard puzzling.

"It came on a small index card like you use in school or whatever, and whatever language that was on it was actually cut and pasted in the old-fashioned sense, like typed and then cut out and pasted onto it," he said. "And then, obviously, the identity of the sender has been pretty well kept ... they took steps to keep that ...

"I think anything you get where the sender has taken very obvious and extreme and multiple steps to keep their identity sealed, that concerns me," he said. "Maurice has gotten other letters and, quite frankly, so have we. People write notes and might use the N-words, but it's in their handwriting some. Some sign it, even an address. In this case, none of that. There's no way to trace this one."

 

[Russ Smith]

Lawyer: Clarett has ties to alleged Israeli mobster
ESPN

Maurice Clarett was bankrolled by an alleged member of an Israeli crime organization after leaving Ohio State, ESPN has learned, and Clarett's attorney said Thursday that his client may have been in possession of firearms last week to protect himself against mob activity.

"

I guess it could have been worse, he could have ties to Hezbollah.

His fall from grace is just staggering.

 

[jenna2891]

lmao!

Maurice Clarett Shows Up Late For Prison Camp

September 21, 2006 | Onion Sports


COLUMBUS, OH—Former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett began his new career as an inmate with the Ohio state prison system by showing up over eight hours late for his first day at Chillicothe State Correctional Camp, a move that did not sit well with officials. "For a rookie in our system to start out like this is a big mistake, to put it mildly," said warden Samuel Gordon, who had been looking forward to overseeing the eight-year deal for aggravated assault Clarett plead guilty to on Tuesday. "Your best bet around here is to blend in, keep your head down, and toe the line at roll call and during cell searches. Act like you're above the law around here and you'll soon find out how wrong you are." Chillicothe management has already taken steps to curtail Clarett's undesirable behavior by assigning him to room with Curtis "Big Sweetie" McCulloch, a 12-year veteran known for his prowess in breaking in new recruits.

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[Redheart]

lmao!

"Big Sweetie"

 

[Rivercard]

His fall from grace is just staggering.

Quite frankly he wasn't really that far up in grace to start with. Over hyped from the start.

 

[Russ Smith]

Quite frankly he wasn't really that far up in grace to start with. Over hyped from the start.

how many freshman RB's start on great teams led alone lead them to national championships?

Even these days it's rare for true freshman RB's to have that kind of impact at a major program.

Not saying he wasted a HOF career but the kid was REALLY good as a freshman before his whole world imploded.