Maurice Clarett is a former football running back that won the National Championship for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team. His professional career did not pan out, but he is now a public speaker talking about his previous struggles and successful recovery. In this article, we will take a look at Maurice Clarett’s net worth in 2021.
| Net Worth | $15,000 |
| Age | 38 |
| Salary | Retired |
| Sponsors | N/A |
| Sports | American Football |
Maurice Clarett’s Net Worth in 2021 (estimate): $15 thousand
Maurice Clarett’s net worth in 2021 is estimated to be at $15 thousand. This is according to the reputable source Celebrity Net Worth.
Clarett was born on October 29, 1983, in Youngstown, Ohio where he made a name for himself as one of the best young running backs.
As a freshman, Clarett displayed his abilities as a tailback with the Austintown-Fitch High School varsity team. He then transferred to Warren G. Harding High School where he gained national attention. By the time he graduated, he was nationally ranked among the top 100 players.
He was also the USA Today Offensive High School Player of the Year, USA Today High School All-American, Parade All-American selection, and the 2001 Ohio Mr. Football Award.
In 2002, he was included in the high school football all-star game called the All-American Bowl which made him a U.S. Army All-American. He also received multiple collegiate offers from schools such as Ohio State University, Notre Dame, Fresno State, and the University of Miami.
Clarett verbally committed to Ohio State and formally signed with the Buckeyes in February 2002.
Maurice Clarett played one season for Ohio State where he helped the Buckeyes finish with a perfect 14-0 record en route to winning the 2002 BCS National Championship. He had a then-record of 1,237 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns.
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The Buckeyes faced the Miami Hurricanes in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl where they won with a score of 31-24. Clarett became the first freshman to be the leading rushing on a national championship team since Ahman Green of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1995.
Clarett was also named the 2002 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was selected as part of the All-Big Ten.
However, his time at Ohio State was marked by multiple incidents. During the 2002 season, he was seen yelling at his position coach during a game. In December 2002, he publicly bad-mouthed OSU officials for not paying for a trip home to attend the funeral of a friend and accused the administrators of lying after they claimed that he did not file the necessary paperwork.
In 2003, he became the center of an academic scandal when a teaching assistant told The New York Times that Clarett received special treatment from his professors at Ohio State, claiming that he did not attend any of his classes during his stay at the university. The investigation did not find sufficient evidence of academic misconduct.
Maurice Clarett got dismissed from the Ohio State University and he then moved to Los Angeles to focus on the NFL. However, he was not eligible to join the 2004 NFL Draft because of a rule that requires players to wait three years after graduating high school to declare for the draft.
Clarett sued the NFL to fight for his inclusion in the 2004 NFL Draft. He initially won his case at trial but was overturned by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit which made him ineligible to declare for the NFL Draft.
Unfortunately, as he was hoping to enter the draft early, Clarett signed with an agent before being denied to join the NFL Draft which meant that his eligibility to return to college football was refused by the NCAA.
In February 2005, Maurice Clarett participated in the NFL Draft Combine at Indianapolis. However, he ran a disappointing 4.72 and 4.82 seconds in the 40-yard dash and was referred to as “Slow-Mo” by the sports media who was covering the combine. Clarett refused to participate any further.
Afterwards, Ohio State did not allow Clarett to take part in a private workout for pro scouts held in Columbus as they wanted to avoid a “circus” situation.
On the first day of the 2005 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos surprisingly selected Maurice Clarett with the 101st overall pick in the 3rd round of the draft. A lot of experts predicted him to fall at the 6th or 7th round, or probably not get drafted at all. Even the Pittsburgh Steelers, who were in need of a running back at that time, publicly said that they will not draft Clarett.
Unfortunately, Clarett had an unimpressive training camp as he entered camp weighing 248 pounds, north of 20 pounds overweight. He was also slow to recover from injury and a large part of this is him not having played a game for two years.
Despite his training camp performance, Clarett signed a four-year contract on July 28, 2005, with the Broncos. He gave up $413,000 of guaranteed money as he turned his contract to an incentive-laden one with the motivation of being paid first-round money if he rushed for 1,000 yards in multiple seasons.
He was then released by the Denver Broncos on August 28, 2005, before he even played a minute in the NFL.
Clarett was then involved in multiple arrest charges in 2006 before being sentenced to prison for seven and a half years, with the possibility of early release after three and a half years.
While in prison, he enrolled in a distance-learning program at Ohio University as he worked towards earning a bachelor’s degree in Geriatrics and Gerontology. He also wrote a blog about his life there titled “The Mind of Maurice Clarett”.
On April 7, 2010, he was granted an early release where he was ordered to enter Maryhaven, a halfway house in Colombus, for 6 months.
On August 30, 2010, Maurice Clarett was signed by the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League. He finished the season with 154 rushing yards and a touchdown. He also caught 12 passes for 98 yards.
In November 2012, Clarett was invited back to Ohio State to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their 2002 undefeated championship season.
In 2016, Clarett found The Red Zone, a behavioral health agency in Youngstown, Ohio, aimed to provide mental health services, addiction and recovery services, school-based social work, among others. The Red Zone has now expanded and has an office in Columbus, Ohio.
In 2018, Clarett launched a business podcast called “Business and Biceps with Cory Gregory and John Fosco”.
Maurice Clarett has certainly turned his life around for the better. From being one of the best running backs in the nation to becoming one of the biggest draft busts in Denver Broncos history, and now becoming a successful public speaker aiming to help people to overcome their failures and struggles.
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