A difference of opinion is what makes a horse race. This, however, is not about horse racing … it's about football, Ohio State football and the difference of opinion between former Uber Freshman Maurice Clarett and Ohio State officials.
You probably heard this week that Clarett is claiming that OSU treated him better than they should have during his freshman season, but then treated him badly after he no longer was of use to them.
Clarett's story is told in an article written by Tom Friend for ESPN The Magazine. In it, Friend says Clarett quietly left Columbus last May, not even telling his mother what he was doing, and rode a Greyhound to California.
There he has been trying to make a case that will enhance his standing among NFL general managers in preparation for the 2005 draft.
Clarett claims that Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel sold him out, even after he protected Tressel and the Buckeye program during the NCAA's investigation of alleged preferential treatment.
Clarett blasted onto the college football scene, graduating from high school in Youngstown and enrolling at Ohio State a semester early. He was the first true freshman running back ever to start a season for the Scarlet and Gray and scored the winning touchdown against the University of Miami to win the National Championship in the Fiesta Bowl.
It was a great story, especially for fans of OSU football.
But then there was a burglary from a borrowed vehicle Clarett was driving. He reported it to police but inflated the value of the items stolen from inside the car.
hat got him in trouble and perked up the investigative ears of the NCAA. They rolled into Columbus to see whether football players were getting perks they shouldn't have under the association rules.
Clarett said he offered a lot of "don't knows" and "can't remembers" to try to keep the real story from the investigators.
He now says that he and other athletes had been steered by the coaching staff to ways they could get walking around money, "borrow" vehicles to drive from local dealerships, attend classes with professors who were football fans and get extreme help with their assignments and projects.
Some other former Ohio State football players support Clarett's claims.
After the issue of the car break-in and questions about Clarett's police report surfaced, the soon-to-be sophomore was suspended pending resolution of his eligibility. That later became a multi-game suspension and then he was barred from the team for the entire coming season for violating NCAA rules requiring forthright answers to investigators questions and for taking benefits not available to ordinary students.
Clarett tried to enter the NFL draft instead but was barred by the NFL's own rules, upheld by a court.
He now claims that Tressel and Ohio State Athletic Director Andy Geiger have sabotaged his future in pro football by telling NFL GM's that he is immature, lazy and uncooperative.
Clarett in response claims that he was a hard worker and is "still a Buckeye at heart." He's hoping to play in the East-West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl in January and attend the NFL combine in February.
Ohio State officials, on the other hand, have issued statement denying the claims of impropriety in their football program. They say that all of the athletes who make such claims were former members of the team who were suspended or injured and have an ax to grind because their separation from OSU was under less than amicable conditions.
This will take a long time to sort out.
Are the claims of impropriety surprising? Sort of, I guess. Geiger and Tressel have long cloaked their program in a mantle of following the rules, even when it hurts. Their statements are believable because we want to believe them.
On the other hand, we are quick to believe such talk about the MUs, FSUs, BYUs and OkSUs.
And no one really questions that such practices go on in major college football. There's just too much money at stake for it not to.
That's why, I think, that even if the NCAA eventually proves that Clarett's charges about improper benefits during the Championship season are true, it really doesn't diminish the shine of the title.
It's simply the championship of that particular level, with all of its improprieties.
It's why I like Division III so much.