Hitmen's GM waiting on Clarett

By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
Jim Terry, the coach and general manager of the Mahoning Valley Hitmen, spent much of his Friday afternoon waiting for a faxed contract from Maurice Clarett.
He's still waiting.
"As soon as I get the damn thing, I'm going to pin it to my T-shirt," he said, laughing.
Over the past few days, Terry has made national headlines for claiming he has a verbal agreement with Clarett to play for the Hitmen, an Eastern Indoor Football League team, when the season begins in January. According to Terry, Clarett, a standout running back at Warren Harding and Ohio State, faxed the contract early Friday afternoon, but the fax was not received at the team's offices.
"Maurice said he sent it," Terry said. "We're still waiting for confirmation."
According to Terry, Clarett's lawyer, David Kenner, is handling the negotiations, but nothing had been confirmed by late Friday night.
"Seventy-two hours ago, I had an agreement that this was a done deal," said Terry.
In pursuit
Terry has pursued Clarett for weeks, going so far as to show up at the team's inaugural press conference with a Hitmen jersey that had Clarett's name and number 13. He caused a stir earlier in the week when Columbus radio station 1460 The Fan reported that Terry had a contract with Clarett. Terry denied the report, saying he only had a verbal agreement with Clarett. Then, on Thursday, he faxed the contract to Clarett and said he was confident Clarett would sign Friday.
Clarett's agent, Josh Luchs, said neither he nor Steve Feldman -- Clarett's other agent -- have any knowledge of the deal and they have not spoken with Clarett in months.
"It hasn't gone through one of us," said Luchs. "We don't know anything about it."
Terry won't sleep easy until he has the contract in his hands. And neither will his critics, who insist that no agreement exists and that Terry is embellishing his claims in order to gain publicity for his team.
"It's absolutely incredible to hear that stuff," said Terry, a 1995 Mooney High graduate. "This thing is so solid and so legit. Nobody believes me.
"I finally know what a U.F.O. victim feels like."
Status uncertain
Clarett's status, however, is up in the air. After being cut by the Denver Broncos during last year's NFL preseason, Clarett was expected to sign with a team in NFL Europe. Those plans were put on hold when he was arrested -- and later indicted -- for aggravated robbery after he allegedly held up two people at gunpoint and stole a cell phone outside a Columbus bar early on Jan. 1.
His trial is still pending. If convicted, Clarett could spend up to 25 years in prison.
"I know very little about it," Terry said of the charges. "Maurice mentioned this to me briefly. Obviously, if he's in prison, there's nothing we can do about it."
Clarett's adviser, former OSU running back Joe Montgomery, assured Terry that Clarett's legal team will deal with the criminal charges.
"Everyone has a right to their day in court," Terry said. "We're all innocent until proven guilty."
Home field
Terry, who formerly ran the Athlete Recruiting Service, expects the Hitmen to play their home games at the Thunderplex in Vienna, although the team does not have a signed contract with the facility. Thunderplex owner Dave Anderson has a verbal agreement with Terry.
Anderson has traded use of the facility -- which includes setup and teardown of the field -- in exchange for 10 percent of the franchise.
"As far as I'm concerned, the Hitmen are playing here unless Jim is not able to come up with the things I need to see," Anderson said.
In addition to the Hitmen, the EIFL's Web site lists New Jersey's Bay Shore Brawlers and Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Rats as the other teams in the league. A team from Maryland also reportedly joined the EIFL.