Please, No Mo' News on Clarett

If you happened to miss the news this past week, former Ohio St. running back Maurice Clarett has been granted eligibility for this April's National Football League draft.

Barring some sort of successful counter legal action by the NFL, Clarett will soon be participating in pre-draft combines and is projected to be anywhere from a second-to-fourth round pick.

If there's one thing that Clarett is good at -- besides football, of course -- it would be the ability to get his name in the news.

I don't understand why he is so newsworthy all the time, but can we stop talking about him already?

At the very least, everybody should stop complaining about the kid.

Here is what I mean: Clarett is one of the new breed of athletes in that he looks out for himself above all else.

It's not really that much of a bad thing either.

Clarett only did one thing that was wrong in this whole mess -- he told a little fib to the police about some things that allegedly were stolen from his car.

No biggie.

He's young, and he thinks pretty highly of himself, but he got caught and got a slap on the wrist.

He didn't hurt anyone, so live and learn, right?.

Clarett has his NFL wish now.

He never really cared about Ohio St. and he sure doesn't belong in a university setting because he doesn't care at all about his education, he cares about making it to the NFL.

Whether it's right or wrong, Clarett looks at thousands of Buckeye fans on a Columbus Saturday wearing his No. 13 jersey and wonders why he isn't seeing any of the money from those sales.

I agree with him.

These big-time universities have been using superstar athletes for years and Clarett is simply using Ohio St. right back.

He showed up to Columbus (while probably not showing up too much for his classes) and promptly stepped in as the Bucks' starting tailback and led them to a national title and then he wanted to move on to the pros.

What's wrong with that? This is America, right?

So, how old do you have to be to begin your career?

There is no public outcry against child actors, or soccer sensation Freddy Adu (how old is he, 14?) who signed a multi-million dollar deal with Nike.

Clarett is what he is -- a kid from the streets who is a very good football player that wants to earn a big payday in the NFL.

I don't know what was his academic major was at Ohio St., but I do know that his real major was football.

So, what is all this talk about Clarett being overrated?

If I was an NFL general manager, I would pick Clarett with my second rounder if he was available.

No, he won't step in as a starter right away, and he is a bit of a gamble, but wasn't Willis McGahee a bit of a gamble for Buffalo last year?

He didn't even play this year, he was drafted on potential and Clarett should be drafted on potential as well because he has a lot of it.

Clarett is a pampered athlete who always gets his way and pouts if he doesn't.

Who cares about how he acts because he isn't going to be the perfect role model.

He has a skill that will probably make him rich and it is his right to pursue that dream whenever he wants.

If he wasn't good enough, he wouldn't have been a dominating Big Ten running back at the age of 18.

The kid is a natural and he will be a productive pro if his attitude doesn't get in the way.

Besides, what does it say about us that we have to spend so much time dissecting the "Clarett Situation" every week?

Let's move on and not talk about Mo until he does something on an actual football field.

Remember, that's why we know who he is, because he's good at football.

Not being a student, or a choir boy, or an ambassador to the state of Ohio.

It's time to move on.