Former Denver Bronco Maurice Clarett Blogs about Prison Life

If you don't remember who Maurice Clarett is, he was the freshman running back that helped Ohio State when the National Championship back in 2002. High on his own success he tried to enter the NFL draft a year early but when the league wouldn't allow it, he tried to sue the NFL and lost. When he did become eligible, the Denver Broncos surprisingly drafted him with the #101 pick in 2005. Unfortunately, he was cut before he even saw the field due to poor impressions during training camp.

Six months later, he was arrested for armed robbery after an incident outside a dance club in Columbus, Ohio. While awaiting trial on that incident, six months later he led police on a chase in Columbus. Officers found a katana, a loaded AK-47 variant, two handguns and a bottle of Grey Goose. He was tried on the robbery, traffic and weapons charges but plead guilty to a plea agreement where he was sentenced to seven and half years, with the privilege to apply for early release after three and a half years.

While everyone has pretty much forgotten about Clarett, he's popping up again due to his blog, The Mind of Maurice Clarett. In the blog, which he speaks to someone who transcribes it for the web (like the Gilbert Arenas blog), Clarett talks about his daily thoughts while living life behind bars.

"You think you have it bad, but remember somebody else always has it worse," Clarett wrote on March 2. "Daily, I see many men regret the choices they've made that put them in situations where they are serving more time than they can ever imagine. There are men in here that have been in prison as long as I've been alive. I read The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Economist, and other popular publications and they are all riddled with stories of people's pain. True enough, things are bad. Your mortgage may be behind and you may have to downgrade your home. You may not be able to afford the vehicle you want. You may not be able to afford the clothing, vacation retreat, or other personal luxuries you wish for. You may be humiliated from it all.

"Please realize this though; there are people in positions that do not have a mortgage to be delinquent on," he continued. "There are people with no car to miss a payment on. There are those who have never been on vacation. Then there are people who are physically handicapped and cannot drive a car to the airport with hopes of getting on a plane to go run upon the sandy beaches. Keep it all in perspective. Life is too short to complain and focus on all that is going wrong. Remember the saying: 'I was sad because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.'"

Clarett has about a year left before he can apply for early release, but at least he's using his energy towards positive things nowadays.