Maurice Clarett has been living harder than the average 26 year old American. Despite this the running back, who played only one year of collegiate football, was signed a day after a tryout with the Omaha Nighthawks. 

Clarett was a surprise third-round draft pick in 2005, despite playing just one year at Ohio State, running 4.72 and 4.82 in the 40 yard dash, and being kicked off his collegiate football team. He didn't make it through the preseason.

But of course, Clarett was part of a potentially groundbreaking case in 2004 when he and USC wide receiver Mike Williams challenged the NCAA's rule that a player could enter the NFL draft three years after graduating high school. 

Their cause initially succeeded, but was overturned. Both athletes had signed agents, making them ineligible to return to play collegiate football, and had to train on their own for a year.

A string of legal problems that included a police chase (complete with a tasing) landed Clarett in jail. 

He was released from prison earlier this year.

Former Oregon Duck quarterback Jeremiah Masoli will not be in the upcoming Supplemental draft. Masoli will attempt to enroll at a new school, and has visited Louisiana Tech (and will be visiting Mississippi State).

He also may transfer to a Division 1-AA school, where he would not have to sit out a year.

Shawnbrey McNeal didn't see the field much during his two years playing for Miami. That wasn't the major factor in him transferring to SMU, it was his mother. 

McNeal put in for a hardship waiver, and the NCAA granted it to him, allowing him to transfer to Southern Methodist, just twenty minutes from his mother who is dealing with diabetes related issues.

After playing a season at SMU, his junior season, he left early to try to support his mother. McNeal was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Diego Chargers. 

Motivation is not the issue for McNeal, it is space: the Chargers have five running backs on their roster including McNeal, veteran Darren Sproles, and first-round pick Ryan Matthews. The good news for McNeal is that he is battling fellow undrafted free agents Curtis Brinkley (a one year veteran), and Marcus Mason (a three year veteran). 

Despite going undrafted, Jevan Snead does not regret leaving school early.

He told Pewterreport.com "I had my degree. I graduated in December with a marketing degree. That was the huge thing for me. A bunch of people said it was because of competition, and I'll tell you right now that's ridiculous. I wouldn't have come out if I were afraid to compete."

Snead signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent, and found himself in a similar situation as Don Warren and Kevin Bapsed found themselves in in New York: struggling to make the roster. 

Prior to last year's season, Snead was widely regarded as a first round pick (at least by ESPN's pundits). But a poor senior season led to questioning of his accuracy and decision-making, and ultimately led to him going undrafted.

No one looked angrier at the draft than one Mel Kiper. Kiper seemed  to take a stand on Clausen, doing so in order to show his scouting prowess against ESPN upstart Todd McShay.

When asked about his ranking of Clausen as the fourth best player in the draft, Kiper responded, "That's my rating. That's my opinion, and I'll stand by it. We'll see what happens three years from now." 

Clausen was eventually picked by the Carolina Panthers 48th overall.

McShay was last seen taking a victory lap around the ESPN campus in Bristol, and was therefore unavailable for comment.

The success stories of players who were passed over in the draft are well known. With rumors creeping in about where the undrafted free agents have signed, NEPatriotsdraft.com has compiled a pretty solid list of players who have already signed. 

Among the notables:

Jevan Snead: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Donovan Warren: New York Jets

Jeremy Williams: San Diego Chargers

Sergio Render: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Colin Peek: Atlanta Falcons

Brandon Lang: San Diego Chargers

Stafon Johnson: Tennessee Titans

LaGarrette Blount: San Francisco 49ers

Taylor Mays, who might as well be named "Runs Like A Cornerback, Hits like a Linebacker," (or so he was billed), is not happy with his biggest supporter and former coach.

Mays told the Sacramento Bee "I definitely thought from the relationship we had, the things that he had told me about what I needed to be aware of with the draft process and things that I needed to do, I felt he told me the complete opposite of the actions that that he took which was definitely - - it was alarming...I understand it's a business. But with it being a business, he needs to be honest. And that's all I'm asking for."

Mays fell to the 49ers at, ironically enough, the 49th overall pick. 

Sergio Kindle, OLB/DE from Texas fell unexpectedly from the first round, or did he? 

In an article by the Boston Herald reported that Kindle will need microfracture surgery, and that scared teams off enough to not want to draft such a risky prospect.

In 2007, Kindle was arrested for driving while intoxicated, but these does not seem to be a problem to NFL teams. Kindle also takes medication for ADD and narcolepsy. This also does not seem to be a problem to scouts. 

Georgia Tech running back Jonathan Dwyer and USC tight end Anthony McCoy are among the names of those who failed drug tests at the 2010 NFL Scouting Combine, according to FOXSports.com's Jay Glazer and Alex Marvez. 

The story claims Dwyer's circumstance is believed to be special. He tested positive for an amphetamine in February, but Glazer and Marvez say that this was triggered by a prescription medication that Dwyer has permission from the NFL to use for a pre-existing medical condition.

Dwyer's draft status is not believed to suffer due to this.

McCoy tested positive for marijuana, which his agency (Priority Sports and Entertainment) revealed to teams so they may go on with the scouting process. The same agency represented Luis Castillo in the 2005 draft, where Castillo admitted to failing a steroid test, but was still drafted in the first round.

Sean Weatherspoon, one of the top linebacker prospects in this year's draft, has a big mouth.

So big is his mouth, that a term has been coined for players like him: "The Ochocinco Effect." In a story by profootballtalk.com, Nolan Nawrocki of Pro Football Weekly was quoted as saying "(H)e never shuts his mouth. It's a big concern to a lot of teams that have stepped in and even removed him from their draft boards. That's how strongly they feel he could negatively effect their locker room," Nawrocki told Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald. 

"The Big concern is just how he's a little bit like [Chad] Ochocinco in Cincinnati. It's going to become a big distraction, and it's going to get in the way, it's going to be difficult to coach," Nawrocki said. "He's never played a snap in the NFL , and he's already worrying about things that really shouldn't matter for a guy at that stage in his career. He's worrying about his image and his post-career aspirations." 

Being compared to Chad Ochocinco is considered to be an insult, but Ochocinco is still among the best receivers in the NFL. That being said, the Bengals still have not gone far in the playoffs during his tenure in Cincinnati. 

Would a player who talks as much as Ochocinco does, and how much Weatherspoon reportedly does, still be worth a high pick? Teams cannot measure how much players like these effect a locker room negatively, but if the production is high, a team will take a risk, and so far it has worked out for Cincinnati (minus the whole, reach the Super Bowl thing).

Weatherspoon is projected as an outside-linebacker in the upcoming draft, and we have him being picked at #19 by the Atlanta Falcons. 

The Next Reggie Bush. Is that a compliment...or a curse? 

For Joe McKnight, it has proven to be the latter. McKnight showed up on campus in Los Angeles as ESPN's #1 recruit in the class of 2007 with the sense of entitlement to prove it. McKnight's mere hype caused 2006 PAC 10 freshman of the year Emmanuel Moody to transfer. 

Over the next three years, McKnight's playing time increased while more established backs like Stafon Johnson, Allan Bradford, and C.J. Gable continued to continued to be frustrated that McKnight's high school highlight reel was forcing them to the bench. 

Reggie Bush did not receive nearly the hype coming in as a part of the class of 2003. But over the next three years, Bush and LenDale White combined for a gaudy 99 touchdowns. Bush rushed for 3,169 yards (25 touchdowns), caught 95 balls for 1,301 yards, scored four touchdowns off of special teams, and threw for a touchdown, while starting only 14 games.

Joe McKnight, in comparison rushed for 2,213 yards (13 scores), caught 66 passes for 542 yards (two touchdowns), and was more well-known for his SUV controversy, taking plays off, and his gnarly beard.  

For someone to come into an established program with such high expectations, not only for himself, but forced upon him, is not only a testament to the internet's power, but also to the program's success. Joe McKnight was supposed to be the second coming of Reggie Bush, no matter where he went. But he never met those expectations. His most successful season (1,014 yards and eight touchdowns) came nowhere near the Bush-like comparisons. 

McKnight left the running-back by committee approach of USC in favor of the NFL Draft. If anyone had guessed, back in 2007, about McKnight's status if he were to leave early, they would have guessed that he would have left just as Bush left USC: the hands down number one pick. As of right now, McKnight is ranked by most draft pundits as a second to third rounder, but will most likely fall past that due to his inability to be an every down back. "He's not physical between the tackles, he doesn't have breakaway speed, and limp off the field only to come back the next series," said Petros Papadakis for Fox Sports Net. "Honestly, he'd be lucky to catch on with a team as a change of pace back"

With rumors flying that Ben Roethlisberger will not be charged with sexual assault stemming from an incident that allegedly occurred in Georgia, the Pittsburgh Steelers are holding their breath.

The Steelers recently released a list of pre-draft visits, none of which included a quarterback.

Roethlisberger’s legal troubles have been well documented. In 2006, Roethlisberger was involved in an accident while riding his motorcycle without a helmet, in which he broke his jaw and nose. He did not have a valid motorcycle license at the time.

In 2007 a civil suit was filed in Nevada alleging Roethlisberger sexually assaulted a woman in his hotel room.

Since entering the league in 2004, Roethlisberger has led the Steelers to two Super Bowls, and statistically has been among the top quarterbacks in the league.

Roethlisberger’s backups are Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon. Batch will be entering his 13th season, while Dixon has started one game in his career. The Steelers must be certain that Roethlisberger will be back and free of legal problems for the 2010 season, and they must be content with Dennis Dixon as Roethlisberger’s backup. This is apparent in their statement that they will not draft an elite quarterback, and their decision not to meet with any quarterbacks eligible for the 2010 draft.

J.V. Siegel