Clarett, Tressel team up for suicide-prevention efforts

By MARC KOVAC

news@vindy.com

COLUMBUS

In 2002, Maurice Clarett was a star running back, helping to lead the Ohio State University football team to the national championship.

A few years later, he was in prison on robbery and related charges. Along the way, he battled depression and substance abuse.

Clarett said he once thought about throwing himself into the path of a tractor-trailer on an Ohio highway. Another time, he considered a shootout with law enforcement as his way out.

“I would rather die than what’s going on,” he recalled thinking at the time. “I would rather die than to continue to live the way I am living.”

But today, the Youngstown native is a public speaker who’s open about his past struggles and the hope he has for the future. He credits the resources he tapped into while serving his prison sentence and other assistance with his turnaround.

On Wednesday, Clarett was in Columbus to support state-led suicide-prevention efforts, including a new law that requires public colleges and universities to provide online resources for students.

“I went to prison and essentially got the same assistance and same resources that they’re trying to make available to these kids on campuses,” he said.

Clarett, his former OSU coach and now Youngstown State University President Jim Tressel and other state officials were at the Statehouse to tout suicide-prevention

efforts.

Many of the bills enacted in recent years were carried by Rep. Marlene Anielski, R-Independence, whose son committed suicide. She said suicide was the second-leading cause of death in Ohio among residents age 15 to 24, and twice as many people die by suicide than by homicide.

“Suicide is a preventable public health problem,” she said. “More investment in suicide prevention, education and research will prevent the untimely deaths of thousands of Americans every year.”

Earlier this year, lawmakers moved and Gov. John Kasich signed legislation requiring colleges and universities to establish suicide-prevention programs for students, including posting information about related services on their websites.

Clarett said he didn’t connect to counseling and other resources while he was a student that could have helped him earlier.

He added, “It’s very dark when you feel hopeless and you feel like you’d rather end your life than continue to go on.”

Tressel praised the suicide-prevention legislation and efforts by colleges and universities to address the issue.

“We need to make sure that our students know that there are resources and that we are here for them,” Tressel said. “The pressures on our young people today, the view that they have in some cases that there isn’t a great deal of hope for their dreams, this is a vulnerable time, and for us to have this opportunity to have this ... initiative and for us to be challenged to make sure that our concern is for our students and their safety, that’s our chief interest, is a great opportunity for us right now.”