Behind The Box Score

The NFL is just going to have to wait another year for ex-Buckeye Maurice Clarett. Clarett had earlier applied to get early parole, but on Monday sent a letter to the Ohio Parole Board stating he wanted to withdraw the request to leave the Toledo prison early. He had been there since 2006, when he was given the minimum sentence of 3 and a half years for a holdup outside a Columbus bar, and then a seperate highway chase. However, the prosecutor Ron O’Brien was going to deny him early release, saying he had not made a strong case to get out.

Clarett has his own blog, that you can find on the side in the blog roll, The Mind Of Maurice Clarett. Mo could not post from inside the prison, but he has phone contact with people that post for him. One of the quotes I took from a post includes,  “I personally believe that I’ve been aiming too low. A body and mind full of endless possibilities that I cannot and will not waste it back here.”

The main reason for his early release is to play in the NFL in 2010, or maybe play in the CFL by the end of the year. As it stands now, he won’t get out until March, and won’t be fully released until 6 months after that, he has to go to a halfway house first. The last time Clarett played in a football game was the 2002 national title game against Miami, where he rushed for the game’s final, and winning touchdown in the 2nd overtime, clinching a 14-0 season for the national champion Buckeyes, and the first national title since 1968.