Maurice Clarett speaks to Florida State about life lessons

Former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett paid a visit to the Florida State football team Wednesday night to talk about how he went from being one of the nation’s best football players to sitting in a jail cell.

“Essentially, I was what y’all was: a national champion, right?” Clarett told the team. “So how do you go from being Mr. Everything to Mr. Nothing? How do you go from being in the NFL to basically in a jail cell?”

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Clarett, 31, was one of 13 speakers scheduled to address the Florida State football program during preseason camp.

Clarett helped the Buckeyes to a BCS National Championship against Miami in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, but that was his only season with the team as off-field issues derailed his collegiate career.

He had a brief stint in the NFL, but ended up going to prison in 2006 for aggravated robbery and carrying a concealed weapon. He stayed in jail for four years.

“Coming from a single-parent environment, coming up in the hoods, sometimes, we’re undeveloped,” Clarett said. “We’re great football players, but we’re s— people. We don’t have the skills to perform.”

Clarett said he never changed the pattern of behavior he had as an adolescent and that spurred his troubles in college and beyond.

“A lot of y’all need to grow up,” Clarett said. “That’s the bottom line. What happened to Maurice Clarett in prison was, I needed to grow the f— up. You had the world in your hands, the NFL in your hands, and you f—ed it up because you want to be a gangsta.

“There’s a lot of people in this room that want to be that.”

Florida State players are undergoing life education in light of offseason incidents involving former quarterback De’Andre Johnson and suspended running back Dalvin Cook. Both players were accused of punching women at bars in separate incidents. Johnson was dismissed from the program following the release of a video showing the assault. Cook is suspended while the legal process plays out. He has a trial date set for Aug. 24.

On Wednesday, former Heisman winner Tim Brown spoke to the team. The Seminoles also heard from Chris Herren, a former NBA player who overcame drug and alcohol addiction, as well as Bob Delaney, a former undercover law enforcement operative and NBA official.

Clarett now operates a packaging and transportation businesses and does multiple speaking engagements with teams, corporations and religious groups.

“That was one of the most bona fide, true, legit talks I’ve been around in college football in 28 years, trying to reach these young men about making the right choices in life,” FSU coach Jimbo Fisher told ESPN. “Having it all going to the bottom, that gives him a lot of credibility, unfortunately.

“But sometimes, these guys have to see that.”

For more Florida State news, visit Warchant.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter! Follow @YahooDrSaturday

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