What might have been

Every kid who has played an organized sport has had to learn that he can't make up his own rules as he goes along. Sports have rules, and players must play by them.
For most of his life as a young athlete, Maurice Clarett obviously understood that. Coaches taught him the rules; referees enforced them.
But in the past year, Clarett has had people around him who obviously told him it was time for him to make the rules. Time for him to teach the National Football League how the game is supposed to be played.
A federal appeals court whistled dead Clarett's attempt to forced his way into this weekend's NFL draft.
Had Clarett played by the rules, a year from now, on the day of the 2005 draft, there is no reason to believe that he would have been anything but a multimillionaire.
Three seasons at Ohio State, at least one national championship ring (maybe more), a Heisman trophy, multiple entries in OSU's record books -- all would have been attainable, and all would have made Clarett an OSU legend and a top draft pick.
Mistakes were made
Clarett made mistakes -- what young man or woman hasn't? -- but the larger mistakes were made by the adults around him. Only Clarett can say for sure who those people were and what mistakes they made -- and it could be years before even he can sort it out through a prism of maturity and hindsight.
Clarett missed some golden opportunities. He probably won't make as many millions in his lifetime as he could have, but he still has the potential to earn more than probably 98 percent of the people in America. He just has to stop trying to make his own rules. He can go to the Canadian Football League, hone his skills, fine-tune his body and prepare for what could be a long and successful career.
There are those who will say Clarett was dealt with unfairly. There are those who believe the NFL has a right to protect itself against the liability it would face if it began taking boys out of high school to play a violent men's game.
None of that matters. What matters is that Clarett has a second chance for success in front of him, if only he will take it. If only those who claim to have his best interests at heart will allow him to take it.