With probably as good a chance for success as me asking the PA lottery for the winning Powerball numbers a day before they are announced, former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett has asked Ted Strickland, Gov. of Ohio, for a pardon.  Clarett is currently serving a sentence at the Toledo Correctional Institution stemming from pleading guilty to charges of aggravated robbery and carrying a concealed weapon.  According to WBNS TV10, "Clarett had an AK-47 weapon with 35 live rounds in the magazine and three pistols in his vehicle.  He was wearing a bulletproof vest.  Investigators also found an open bottle of Grey Goose vodka and a hatchet.  He was arrested about one mile away from the house of the robbery victims."  Clarett is not scheduled to be released until sometime in September of 2014. 

Having been a pretty avid reader of "The Mind of Maurice Clarett", a personal blog of the once great football star, Clarett though seemingly heading in the right direction in his life largely continues to be somewhat disassociated with things as if he was not fully to blame for his current predicament and is largely rambling in his writings.  He still has visions of playing football and still seems to have a hunger for the good life he once thought was rightfully his, without any work on his part. He seems to understand the severity of his situation now and is taking steps toward getting back on track now that his freedom has been taken from him.  For the most part Clarett seems caught up with grandiose ideas and plans that I suspect were the reason that led him to his current situation.  In the defense of Mr. Clarett he is working toward completing his college degree and seems to be taking a more active approach to getting control of his life.

Maybe as an Ohio State fan I am a bit jaded by Clarett's actions of the past to the point where admittedly I have a hard time really being able to see much truth in what Mr. Clarett says.  I wish nothing but the best for Maurice and anyone in his situation with hope that they have the strength and support to come out the other side a stronger and better person.  As for the chances of him receiving a pardon, I would say slim and none and slim just left town.