Uncle Crappy

A month ago, I really wanted Terrelle Pryor to play at Ohio State. Now, I’m not so sure. Here are a few reasons why:

* Fighting with members of another team. I’m sure the boys from North Catholic weren’t exactly behaving like altar boys as it relates to this incident, but isn’t crushing them on the floor enough?

* Trying to fight the entire student section following another playoff game. Not just dumb. “Holy crap can you believe this?” dumb.

* Holding a news conference on national signing day to tell us he’s not yet making a decision.

It’s possible I’m being way too hard on an 18-year-old kid. If I had to deal with that kind of attention at his age, I would have crashed and burned harder than anyone ever in the history of crashing and burning.

But still — I’m wary. You might remember a guy named Maurice Clarett. Great athlete, but troubled past in Youngstown. He was a dream during his first year in college — the best season for a freshman running back in Ohio State history, a history that includes six Heisman Trophies won by people who held the position.

There were signs of trouble during that first year, but as Ohio State rolled to an undefeated season, we chose to overlook them. You know the rest: Unsuccessful suit to gain early entry to the NFL. Got cut by the one team that gave him a shot when he finally got his chance. And now he’s in jail.

I don’t have any idea whether Terrelle Pryor would even come close to causing the same kind of trouble, although, given the staggering nature of Clarett’s public collapse, it’s a little hard to imagine someone matching it

But Mr. Pryor is starting to look like a prima donna to me — and I’m not certain his once-in-a-lifetime talents are going to be worth the headaches that could follow.

Tags: college football, nablopomo, uh-oh