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I watched this flick called "Instinct" the other night. It's a dramatic, albeit screwball, send-up about an anthropologist, played by Anthony Hopkins, who after spending some me-time in the African jungle, returns deranged, shaggy-haired, and fit to drop some wisdom on the world. His unsuspecting pupil is Cuba Gooding Jr., who plays a young, eager, by-the-book psychiatrist.
The best scene in the movie is when Hopkins gets Cuba in a choke hold and won't release him until he answers a question.
"What have I taken from you?" growls Hopkins.
Cuba finally answers correctly: "My illusion."
That's Maurice Clarett's situation. He stripped some folks of their illusion that college sport is clean and pure and free from financial seduction. It's hard to imagine anyone could be naïve enough to harbor such fantasies at this point in time; but surely they're out there, because Clarett's story made quite a splash.
When Clarett said Ohio State had provided him with cash, fake course credits and a car, Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel and athletic director Andy Geiger both replied with emphatic denials. Among Geiger's responses was the suggestion that we look into Clarett's background. Essentially, the AD called him a liar.
Sure, Clarett should have kept his mouth shut. That was a mistake. But you can't tell me that Tressel and Geiger never knew what time it was.
OK, so I believe that both men conveniently had their backs turned whenever boosters congregated around Clarett and others. They probably never witnessed the favors, or the $100 handshakes. But come on. You think they didn't know?
Ah, sweet illusion.
I have but one question for Ohio State, for college football fans and for you. How badly do you think Ohio State wanted a national championship? Look at the John Cooper years. The Buckeyes lost to Michigan 10 times in 13 seasons, and more than one of those losses came with the national championship at stake.
Look at the players who played on those teams: Eddie George, Dan Wilkinson, Orlando Pace, Terry Glenn, Joey Galloway. That's an awful lot of first-round talent, and no titles to show for it. You don't think the pressure to beat Michigan and win a championship was so pervasive in Columbus that the Buckeyes would do just about anything to get it?
I certainly do.
The missing piece was a running back from Youngstown, Ohio. After his 1,237 yards and 18 touchdowns during his freshman season, the Buckeyes got that elusive title.
Then, Maurice Clarett became expendable.
But something good happened after he left Ohio State. The Denver Broncos gave Clarett new life by taking him with a third-round draft pick.
That Clarett failed to make the team is on Maurice. I have much respect for Mike Shanahan for giving the kid a shot. That's the way it should have gone down. In the NFL, talent transcends all else. Sure, character is great fodder for a combine interview, but ain't nobody interviewing you unless you got the goods in the first place. And somewhere inside, Clarett has the goods.
