A month ago, Maurice Clarett and UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue met to discuss another chance.
Friday night before Clarett's first football game in five years, they met again on the field.
“Eight months ago,” Clarett told the commissioner, according to Huyghue, “I was sitting in a prison cell.
“If you'd have asked if I was going to have this opportunity to turn my life around and be out here playing this level of football, I would've told you it was never going to happen.”
After leading Ohio State to the 2002 national championship as a freshman, Clarett broke NCAA rules for accepting gifts, then failed to make it in the NFL in 2005.
In 2006, he went to prison for 3½ years for armed robbery. He was released earlier this year and, in August, he asked Huyghue to OK a tryout with the Nighthawks.
Clarett didn't get much action in his debut. He returned a kickoff to the 20-yard line. He almost blocked a punt. He didn't get a carry.
Clarett said he's in good football shape and that he's “absolutely” satisfied with his status.
“I'm just working back in,” he said. “We've got a crowd of good running backs. Ahman Green. Shaud Williams. I'm just contributing where I can contribute.”
Clarett helped on the sideline. When things weren't going well for Omaha, he repeatedly told Jeff Garcia to stay focused and confident. We need you, he said.
Garcia found Clarett in the locker room after the game and thanked him for the encouragement.
“You have to just appreciate the attitude that he's had,” Garcia said. “I really see him turning the corner and doing the right things.”
Huyghue does, too. He found Clarett in the locker room after the game and hugged him.
“He paid his debt,” Huyghue said. “He's back here doing something that he loves. You can see his heart is in it. I just pray that everything works out for him.”
Perfect script
The clock hit zero, and the Nighthawks' most popular player stormed toward the west end zone.
He threw his helmet to the turf. Clenched his fists. Pumped his arms and legs. His eyes could've cut through a 300-pound defensive tackle.
Ahman Green was fired up. He shouted into the roaring crowd.
“This is our house! This is our house!”
Homecomings don't come with any more emotion. Green hadn't played a football game in Omaha since high school. Afterward, fans chanted his name and high-fived him as “We are the champions” blared over the speakers.
“You can't script it any better than this,” Green said.
He rushed for 49 yards on 12 carries. He did not shine, but he felt good about his performance. Green, the Packers' all-time leading rusher, hadn't carried the ball much the past three years in the NFL.
“I got a little tired at the end, I'm not going to lie,” Green said.
Near rumble
A brawl on the field nearly broke out in the fourth quarter.
It started when Omaha receiver Robert Ferguson dropped a ball over the middle. Colonials linebacker Danny Lansanah blindsided him.
Officials immediately flagged Lansanah for a late hit. But as soon as Ferguson popped off the turf, he went after Lansanah, nearly starting a rumble.
“I haven't seen nothing like that probably since I was at the Boys Club (in Omaha), or when I was in Los Angeles playing Pop Warner,” Green said. “It's going to be a fight when we go to Hartford.”
Happy with turf
If the Rosenblatt grass blades could talk, they'd be asking where those nice, gentle baseball players went.
The first football game at the Blatt in three decades did a number on the turf, especially the new sod (laid Sept. 10) covering the infield.
Members of the grounds crew put up a valiant effort, tamping down chunks of sod at every break in the action. Even the old sod — planted back in 1992 — took a beating.
But considering the 1¼ inches of rain Thursday, Rosenblatt groundskeeper Jesse Cuevas was “fairly happy.”
“We'll get back at it Monday and do what we do,” Cuevas said. “Hopefully, it'll get better each game.”
A UFL spokesman said after the game that the league was “extremely satisfied” with Cuevas and the Rosenblatt crew.
‘Blatt Bounce'
Ferguson caught the game-winning touchdown and dashed to the front row — near the third-base dugout.
He leaped against the padded wall, where a pack of Creighton Prep seniors caught him.
Ferguson played six years for the Packers. He knows all about the Lambeau Leap.
But Prep senior Aiden Hook, who bought a ticket to the left-field grandstand before moving to an empty seat in the front row, suggested a different name.
“The Blatt Bounce, baby!”
Contact the writer:
649-1461, dirk.chatelain@owh.com
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• Photo Showcase: Nighthawks opening night (game action)
• Photo Showcase: Nighthawks opening night (fans)
• Video: Highlights from Omaha's 27-26 win over Hartford:
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