FROM GANG TO GRIDIRON Maurice Clarett Bob Eckhart
FROM GANG TO GRIDIRON Maurice Clarett Bob Eckhart June 10, 2017 NACDA & Affiliates Convention Orlando World Center Marriott
Biographies ■ Maurice Clarett – 2001 USA Today National Player of the Year – 2002 First freshman starting tailback at OSU; National Champion – 2006 -2010, Prison – 2015, Founder, Red Zone, Youngstown, Ohio ■ Bob Eckhart – GTA, Student Athlete Support Services (SASSO), Ohio State, 1994 -5 – Tutor/Mentor, SASSO, Ohio State, 1995 -2004 – Lecturer, English Department, Ohio State, 1995 -2014
Literature Review ■ “Examining the Prevalance and Impact of Gangs in College Athletic Programs Using Multiple Sources” – Alpert, Rojek, Hansen, Shannon, and Decker (2011) – U. S. Dept of Justice study conducted by criminologists ■ “Is the Quarterback a Crip? : The Presence of Gangs in Collegiate Athletics Programs – Rojek, Decker, Alpert, Hansen (2013) – Criminal Justice Review 38(4) 452 -472 ■ Both papers came from the same study: – Survey of ADs, police chiefs, and players – Simply trying to establish whether they exist
Literature Review ■ Harry Edwards: Crisis of Black Athletes on the Eve of the 21 st c. ■ Albert Bimper, Jr. : Mentorship of Black College Athletes at a PWI ■ Emmett Gill: (1) Integrating Collegiate Sports into Social Work Education; (2) Mental Health in College Athletics: It’s time for Social Work to Get into the Game ■ Other articles concerning mental health, depression, performance…
History and Background (anecdotes and examples) ■ O. J. Simpson – Grew up in a housing project in SFO – Involvement with Persian Warriors [street gang] – “somebody who didn’t care about anything” [L. A. Times, 6/18/94] – Arrested and sentenced to juvenile detention, 1964 – Intervention by Willie Mays? !? – Successful career, bottom drops out, armed robbery, prison
History and Background (anecdotes and examples) ■ Mid-1980 s Colorado Buffaloes – 1985, 1 -10…Deliberate strategy to recruit So. Cal and inner-city LA – Sal Aunese, Prop 48 non-qualifier, starts as a sophomore – March of his second year, assault, two-week jail term – Misses spring ball, starts in the fall [dies of cancer after the season] – 1989, SI, “What Price Glory: Under Mc. Cartney CU Football has taken off but so has ugly criminal behavior among the Buffalo players. ” – 1990, National Champions [QB Darian Hagan from Watts]
History and Background (anecdotes and examples) ■ Maurice Clarett – South side of Youngstown, Ohio – Three juvenile arrests: stealing cars, fighting, home invasion [12 -14 years old] – Escapes that to play h. s. football and make it to college – National Championship, 2002 – NCAA suspension, NFL draft lawsuit dismissed, criminality – Prison, rehabilitation, psycho-social-emotional development program
Recent History (anecdotes and examples) ■ Aaron Hernandez – Grows up in Connecticut – Father dies from surgical complications when he’s 16; mother loses him – April 2007, 17 years old, arrives at UF early, assaults restaurant employee/avoids felony prosecution when victim surprisingly drops charges – Coach Meyer reads scripture with him and asks Tim Tebow to intervene as well – 1 out of 10 on the “social maturity” portion of pre-draft psych report [Rolling Stone] – Failed drug tests, fourth-round draft pick, criminality, prison, apparent suicide
Very Recent History… (anecdotes and examples) ■ James Hardy – Three-sport h. s. star in Indiana – Two-sport athlete at IU – Drafted, 2 nd round Buffalo Bills – Played two seasons, hurt, out of the league: 10 passes, 96 yards, 2 TDs – ”He was arrested in Los Angeles for resisting arrest in 2014 but a judge later ruled him not mentally competent to stand trial. ” [espn. com] – 31 years old, found dead in a river Wednesday, possible suicide
Guiding principles ■ African American kids need to start thinking beyond athletics at an early age ■ Athletes returning to their communities need to do more than host sports camps ■ Especially inner-city African American children experience identity foreclosure at a young age and think their only career path is professional athletics ■ Reducing the number from high school football [and basketball players] to college scholarship athletes to professionals, earning a living playing pro sports is like winning the lottery ■ All college football/basketball players-–who are most likely to ignore educational opportunities because their hopes are artificially inflated during recruiting—need to be taught about the reality of their future and armed with skills/training/education which will allow them to succeed
What is at stake and what’s the plan? ■ There are life-and-death scenarios playing themselves out with college athletes —we need to make sure there are no more cases like James Hardy’s ■ Expertise exists—accredited social work programs on all Power-5 campuses; social workers in every community in America ■ Mental health is part of the NCAA Sport Science Institute Strategic Priorities ■ Football programs will independently outsource human growth and development of athletes through contracts with social service agencies to conduct regular assessments, create individualized service plans, and facilitate individual and group sessions.
Contact information: ■ Maurice Clarett – mclarett 13@gmail. com – @Reese. Clarett 13 ■ Bob Eckhart – eckhart. 5@osu. edu
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