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Clarett asks court to be allowed to travel to pro tryout
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo
In this Nov. 8, 2002 file photo, Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett runs against Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind. Clarett is asking a judge to allow him to travel to try out with the Omaha Nighthawks football team of the United Football League Clarett pleaded guilty in 2006 to aggravated robbery and carrying a concealed weapon and served 3½ years in a Toledo prison. He is attending classes at Ohio State while living in a detention facility in Columbus.
COLUMBUS (AP) — Former Ohio State tailback Maurice Clarett has gotten back into the classroom. Now he wants to get back onto the football field.
Clarett of Youngstown filed a motion with a judge asking to be allowed to travel to try out with the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League.
A review of the motion was tentatively set for late this afternoon and then later pushed back to Aug. 30. Clarett cannot leave the state until he receives clearance from the court.
Today, Clarett, who helped lead the Buckeyes to the 2002 national championship, finished up 4 1/2 months in a locked-down, dormitory-style facility that serves as a transition for those getting out of prison. He asked Judge David Fais of Franklin County Common Pleas Court to leave the state to try out for the pro team.
His attorney, Michael Hoague, said Clarett was ready to make the most of the opportunity.
"Since he re-enrolled in summer-quarter classes at Ohio State, he's been going to school and also working out each morning at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center," Hoague said. "He looks really good."