“He Who Shall Not Be Named” has his day

In 2008, The Buckeye Battle Cry selected Andre Amos as our honoree for Day #13, and a few readers were disappointed over the decision. The argument over excluding Maurice Clarett was that you cannot ignore the on-field success Clarett brought just because he was an off-field jackass.

One year later, we’re convinced.

Men Of The Scarlet And Gray used to refer to Clarett as HWSNBN (“He Who Shall Not Be Named”), because we didn’t really want to find ourselves associated with the stupid stuff that he went to jail over. But as time has passed, I’ve come to the realization that Clarett is a shining example of Jim Tressel doing his job RIGHT when it comes to problem cases.

Clarett was a superstar and he helped this team get that 14-0 record and the National Championship in 2002. He actually only played in 10 games as a Buckeye, but when he did hit the field, it was huge. We can never forget what he did for this team.

But shunning his on-field legacy is no longer necessary. Hell, haters are going to use his name whenever they want to bash us (and when you’re as inept as Michigan fans and their blogs are, using the name “Maurice Clarett” is the equivalent of Godwin’s Law….whenever they find that they cannot win an argument based on facts, they whip out his name and declare victory).

When Clarett began running into trouble, Tressel and Ohio State did EXACTLY what they should have done. First, they watched him like a hawk and cracked the whip. But when that became useless, they again did the right thing. They cut him loose.

Haters will claim that Ohio State is a criminal organization based simply on what Clarett did. But they fail to realize that his crimes were committed AFTER he left the University. We tried to keep him under control, and when that failed, he was gone. Not our problem anymore. As soon as his first legal issue arose, he was no longer a member of this football team. Gone. Vamoose. See ya.

As for Michigan players?

• Adrian Arrington beat up his girlfriend and drove drunk – stayed on the team
• Mario Manningham smoked pot, got caught – stayed on the team
• Marlon Jackson sent a guy to the hospital with a broken beer bottle – stayed on the team after a one-game suspension
• and I’d just LOVE to see the hidden police records from the days of Gary Moeller’s tenure….just to see how many “shoulda-been arrested” run-ins exist with Moeller himself

So take your faux-outrage elsewhere and enjoy your losing streak.

Meanwhile, we’re going to enjoy our latest honoree in the countdown – Maurice Clarett, thanks for the good times. Clean it up, bro. You deserve better.

13 days until kickoff!

——–

EDIT by MaliBuckeye- I absolutely agree with Jeff’s decision to honor MoC- He was a part of an amazing 2002 season, and will always be a part of the Buckeye family.

Two additions to this post: Many people point to #13 as a reflection of not only Ohio State’s alleged “thug” culture, but also their being a team of Sweatervest McCheatypants; the allegations of improper benefits swirling like midwestern leaves in November.

However, the record will show that none of these allegations about Maurice were proven to be accurate. The NCAA conducted a full investigation (unlike some places), and no impropriety was found (unlike some other places).

The second area I wanted to highlight is a correction, somewhat, to Jeff’s remark that Ohio State “cut him loose”.

While that’s certainly true for his athletic career, the fact remains that Tressel is concerned more about what happens to a student athlete after he graduates. As such, the fact that he and Maurice have stayed in contact even through these difficult years in #13’s life should not be seen as a surprise to anyone who knows his vision for the program.

And now, it’s great to hear that Maurice is working to transcend his past and present and become the man that he’s capable of being.

For your successes on the field and the ones yet to come, we honor you on day 13.