I don’t know if anyone remembers Maurice Clarett. He was Ohio State’s running back a few years ago when they won the national championship. He tried to go pro after his freshman year, and he was a damn good player, but then he ended up getting arrested and is now doing a pretty long prison term (apparently he was driving around with open liquor, a Japanese sword and a loaded AK-47 in his trunk). So, just randomly today I stumbled on his blog, which is a surprisingly lucid, thought-provoking piece of work, especially for an incarcerated ex-D1 athlete. I don’t know how authentic this thing is, but I was really amazed reading it how far this guy has come from the days of an egotistical college football diva. In any case, here’s the link. You can see it all for yourself.
Prison blog
March 3, 2009 · 5:55 pm · by njs12008
Categories: discussion
3 responses so far ↓
lrv02008 // March 3, 2009 at 10:14 pm
That’s a really interesting blog. I can’t tell if he’s for real either, but reading it makes me wonder: if I were in prison, what would I spend my time doing? He talks about reading from “world leaders, dictators, plutocrats, and even tyrants helps me keep my situation in perspective.” His reference to “amour propre” makes it seem like he really does read Rousseau and other philosophers. I wonder if I would spend time studying different mentalities, if I would write an inspiring blog, or if I would just be counting the days till I got out. Regardless of if it/he’s for real, he presents some thought-provoking stuff. An intriguing blog.
I wonder what the Japanese sword was for…
Confucious // March 4, 2009 at 1:20 am
yes, he has come a long way, but I can’t understand why he had all that stuff in his car. There’s a subconcious reason for his doings that he does not want to fully explain and until it is fully explain what ever good he does now does not change my perception of him.
music323 // March 4, 2009 at 1:49 pm
In his most recent post (dated 03.03.09), Clarett addresses the question that has, I’m sure, been asked of him on multiple occasions: what was prison like? His refusal to answer the question can suggest a multitude of things. He asserts that it is because he has moved on and that he strives to operate as a beacon of hope and inspiration for others. While I respect this stance, I too am wondering if his authenticity and sincerity should be questioned. I would think that he could draw on his experiences in prison to elucidate some of his newfound life visions. It appears that his time in prison has had a profound impact on the way that he now acts and thinks. He claims that his “mental sentence expired when [he] decided to educate [him]self,” claiming also to have matured since being in prison.
I am intrigued by this comment specifically: “There’s no need to talk to a reporter these days. I am my own newspaper. I am my own editor. I am my own censor. I am able to put things into the proper context” (”Sovereign Being” 02.28.09). This quotation leads to me to think that maybe Clarett is intent on rectifying his tainted image, calling upon people to trust him and not the media. While I can understand his desire to have his own voice be heard as opposed to the biased voice of a drama-hungry reporter, it seems as though he may be trying too hard to correct what has already been done. Certainly, he does not want to be vilified by the media, his blog acting as a way to counter what has been said about him. I’m wondering though if the statement is more of a plea, an act of desperation, to get people to see him in a more positive light. And I think that part of his healing process is getting people to see him in a more optimistic way. While certainly his 180-degree change in attitude is in part is self-serving, he also seems to want to share the “new Maurice” with the world. I mean, why would he have created a blog in the first place if he didn’t want people to listen to what he had to say?
I’m not sure whether or not he’s being real, but it is interesting to note the fan-base that he has amassed via the blog. Looking at the responses that people have posted commenting on his daily “words of wisdom” is just as interesting, if not more interesting than the posts themselves. There are people who seem to pity him (”you are in my prayers”), sympathize with him, support him (”I like the new Maurice”), and see him as a source of inspiration. The authenticity of these responses gives more credibility to Clarett’s posts.
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