By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Maurice Clarett's NFL combine experience was limited to news conferences and medical examinations. The Associated Press/MICHAEL CONROY

INDIANAPOLIS - Maurice Clarett admitted Thursday that he wouldn't be able to take on the NFL as a rookie the way he took on the Big Ten as an Ohio State freshman.

He acknowledged that many people want him to fail and that NFL defenders will be gunning for him.

"I've been doing a lot of foot ladders and quickness drills," he said. "Probably trying to avoid more hits than college. I thought my first year (in college) I had something to prove, so I was trying to run people over. (Now) I think I improved my quickness and lateral movement in order to make people miss."

Clarett, 20, the football pioneer who - so far - has beaten the NFL draft eligibility rule, met more than 100 members of the pro football media on the second day of the annual scouting combine.

And he displayed deftness mentally that he hopes to match physically on the field.

Have you signed with an agent?

"I've got a couple in mind."

Is Jimmy Sexton one?

"He's a finalist."

Who else?

"C'mon now. That's personal."

But the sometimes playful verbal sparring with reporters was as much exercise as Clarett would get at the combine. Like many big-name prospects, he declined to work out and instead will perform in a private session the first week of April at Ohio State. He weighed 237 pounds, measured 5-feet-11 and had a 2year-old shoulder stinger examined by doctors.

By April, after five weeks of football-oriented workouts, Clarett predicted he would run a 4.4-4.5 40-yard dash and drop 7 pounds to his playing weight of 230.

"All the numbers they need to get they can get (in) April," he said.

Some NFL executives criticized his decision not to work out.

"That's a farce. That was expected that he wouldn't work out. That's ridiculous," said Tom Donahoe, president and general manager of the Buffalo Bills. "You have immediate questions on what kind of shape is he in, why he's not prepared to work out."

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis was not critical, but said NFL scouts would have to put stock into Clarett's game film from Ohio State.

"This tape is going to weigh heavy on him," Lewis said. "You don't play football in your shorts."

Welcome to the NFL, Maurice. Thursday, in essence, was his first full day as a professional athlete.

"I feel like I made a transition," said Clarett, who was here as the result of a federal judge's ruling Feb. 5 that struck down the NFL rule preventing players from entering the draft until they're three years removed from high school graduation. The NFL plans to appeal and file a stay in federal court in New York.

"It's truly now a profession," Clarett said. "I get to wake up and think about football and go to sleep thinking about football. I get to be myself."

Clarett - wearing the standard-issue gray NFL combine sweat shirt, emblazoned with "RB30" on the left breast - spoke confidently to the media, sometimes smirking as if to playfully toss peanut shells at aggressive questioners.

Clarett's off-field problems were brought up. He pleaded guilty Jan. 14 to a reduced charge of failing to aid a police investigation.

There were questions about his health and durability. He had a nagging shoulder stinger and arthroscopic knee surgery that forced him to miss three of Ohio State's 14 games in 2002. Still, he rushed for 1,237 yards and 18 touchdowns.

"Can they trust me?" he said when asked about an NFL team drafting him. "I think so. When I sit down with these GMs and head coaches, they'll have a good understanding of me. There's so many tests here, they can pretty much find out anything they want to find out."

Despite his notoriety and the fact he hasn't played in a game in almost 14 months - since the Buckeyes' national title victory against Miami in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl - Clarett is forecast as a late second-, early third-round draft pick by experts.

"I would like to go in the first round," he said. "As a kid, you dream of going in the first round. I really can't control that. Teams draft like what they feel they need. If they feel there's another person at my position that's better than me and they need that person, then God bless the other individual."

Finally, he was asked if the NFL money would change him.

"Change my address," he said.

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com