Athletes need Plan B for deferred dreams

The recent arrest of former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett drummed up some old memories of Yannick Noah and joining the ATP tour.

Long ago there was a chubby little boy who dreamed of cracking forehands like Noah, the now forgotten tennis player with a larger-than-life persona and whirling dreadlocks who dazzled fans around the world during the 1980s.

Fascinated by Noah, then Michael Chang, then Andre Agassi, this boy set out to become a professional tennis player. Posters pinned to the walls of his room and private tennis lessons foreshadowed an induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Seriously, with enough prayer, I could have been a star. But, boy, I'm glad my mother made me develop a Plan B.

Clarett's arrest brought back all those hours of after-school practice. It also brought back those crushing tournament defeats at the hands of junior players 10 times better than me.

The little boy in me empathizes with Clarett, who clearly has had his dreams deferred. The adult in me wonders if he had a well-thought-out back-up plan in case the elusive professional sports dream failed.

Everybody needs a backup plan, especially young and talented athletes who sometimes forget -- or never learn -- that superstardom is not a guarantee.

Now Clarett, 22, has been charged with robbing two people at gunpoint in an alley behind a bar in Columbus, Ohio.

Each of the two counts of aggravated robbery carries a possible sentence of three to 10 years. Clarett appeared in court on Tuesday, posted bond, but hasn't entered a plea.

Guilt or innocence is not my concern. That will be decided by better qualified folks in the judicial system.

What troubles me is that Clarett, who helped Ohio State win a national championship in 2002, seemingly didn't have the desire or the know-how to move on with his life in a positive direction after his football dream imploded.

He was suspended for the 2003 season after being accused of lying on a campus police report about the value of some stolen items. He later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

He unsuccessfully challenged the NFL's requirement that players wait three years after graduating from high school to turn pro. His lawyers took the case all the way to the Supreme Court. Clarett finally was taken by the Denver Broncos in the 2005 draft, but was cut in August.

There has been speculation that he planned to pursue opportunities with an NFL Europe team.

What if he's cleared of all of this ugliness and is able to start a new career? Say he plays for a season, makes a million dollars, then suffers a career-ending injury.

What then? How does he regroup? Does he continue his education? Start a business? Or does he rob someone?

Those are the kind of questions that parents, high school coaches, mentors and program supporters -- if they truly want to help -- should raise with young, talented athletes. Help them understand that on-the-field careers can shatter -- or better yet never materialize.

The odds of a college football player making it in the NFL according to NCAA president Myles Brand are less than 6,000 to 1. And only 2 percent of college basketball players, he says, make it to the NBA.

"More often than not it doesn't work out," said Cary High football coach Ben Kolstad, who talks with players about not making choices that they might regret.

Kolstad has counseled standout senior running back Josh Adams, reminding him that as he makes a decision about where to play college football, he also needs to consider the value that school places on education for athletes.

Life after sports has been on Adams' mind since he injured an ankle last year, the second injury in his high school career.

"The ability to play football can be taken at any moment," said Adams, who hopes to own a business someday.

He's not the only one thinking ahead. Southern Durham offensive lineman Carl Johnson, one of the nation's top recruits, will enroll at the University of Florida this month and hopes to play in the NFL. Still, he's considering a communications major and talks about producing television programming, perhaps after the NFL.

"A couple of million," he said, isn't enough protection against life. "That's only going to last you so long.

"You got to have other ways to make money, or make ends meet," Adams added. "I'm not a person who's going to bank my entire life on making the NFL. What happens if you don't?"