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Shared journey
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Ohio State coach Jim Tressel talks with freshman tailback Maurice Clarett in this game from 2002. Their departures from Ohio State will be documented in ESPN’s film “Youngstown Boys” that will be televised on Saturday.
By Ryan Buck
Brothers and award-winning filmmakers Jeff and Michael Zimbalist pride themselves on allowing the subjects of their stories to lead their films.
In 2010, they traveled to Colombia to research and interview those associated with Colombian authorities and the 1994 Colombian national soccer team. The result was the critically-acclaimed “The Two Escobars,” the story of the different, yet parallel lives and deaths of drug lord Pablo Escobar and national soccer star Andres Escobar.
Driving the film were gripping and often harrowing accounts of the downfalls of the two main characters from friends, family members, teammates and adversaries.
Michael, speaking by phone, said he wanted the same qualities to connect audiences with the story of “Youngstown Boys,” which airs Saturday night on ESPN as the newest installment of the network’s “30 for 30” series.
The film describes the journey of Youngstown native and former Ohio State football star Maurice Clarett: his upbringing, rush to college football super stardom, the ensuing self-destruction and ongoing reformation.
The largest undertaking of interviews (30 hours in length) in their careers included poignant details from Clarett, family members, friends, coaches and especially former Youngstown State and Ohio State coach Jim Tressel.
Zimbalist said he and his brother soon noticed perhaps the most glaring element of Clarett’s journey: the absence of a father figure.
“We really start thinking about the narrative of the film,” Zimbalist said of Clarett’s struggles with fame following a childhood both hardened and honed by his hometown. “It’s a case study for how a guy deals with experiences like that and what was to be said about his journey for a young African-American man from Youngstown.”
After a three-and-a-half-hour interview that they had expected to last perhaps 30 minutes, the Zimbalists understood the importance of Tressel’s presence as a mentor to his star pupil.
“Everyone had strong emotions and investment in what happened,” Zimbalist said. “We knew Jim Tressel had a part of the story.”
It was not until later in the process that they realized how big.
Zimbalist noted the roller-coaster relationship that Clarett and Tressel shared — their initial bond, then a prolonged separation and reunion — was inevitably identified as that of a troubled son and a father desperately trying to see him through the most incredible time of his life.
After Clarett’s meteoric rise to fame through a stellar high school career at Warren Harding followed by a key role in Ohio State’s 2002 national championship run, the football phenom was devoured by personal demons and outside forces. A ruined football career, substance abuse, crime and prison were the result.
The contrasted, yet shared journey of Clarett and Tressel has them forever linked.
“They had very different relationships with their own fathers,” said Zimbalist, who also highlighted another parallel. “The way they were both idolized and such a big part of college football and a community at large.”
When Clarett’s relationship with his father, Michael (who passed away in early 2012), deteriorated, he had little paternal influence except lessons learned on the streets.
Once football proved to be his way out, Tressel’s influence guided Clarett only for so long until the jaws of stardom enveloped him and the troubled youth emerged.