First, he was pulled over after committing an illegal U-turn.

Back to 15 minutes of baseball talk from the previous night.

Then, it became a tale of needing to stop an extended chase and the finding of the weapons.

15 minutes of idle chatter

And then came the details regarding the mace and bulletproof vest.

I hung my head in disappointment, thinking back to what a phenomenal player Clarett had been during that storybook season at Ohio State.

The story immediately brought me back to an article I'd written when Clarett and Mike Williams were denied entry to the NFL. I was strongly opposed to the decision made by the NFL to keep them out of the 2004 draft and was most dismayed when they were denied the possibility of heading back to school.

But that wasn't the end of the road as far as football was concerned, nor can you throw your hands up in defeat at the age of 19. There are certainly other leagues and football organizations out there. There are ways to improve your footwork and hands and to stay in game shape. Jim Brown and countless others reached out to him and tried to keep him on the path.

He later got his shot in the 2005 draft. Despite a less than stellar combine, the Broncos and Mike Shanahan thought enough of the player they'd see on tape to make him a third-round pick. Clarett failed to bond with the Broncos and arrived to camp overweight and sluggish. Just like that, he was out of football again.

I wondered to myself whether the decision to keep him out of the NFL could be blamed in any way for this latest incident. Would getting the money and fame and fortune associated with being a top pick prevent these issues? Or would they have caused others?

While it's tough to account for the two years away from the game and the impact on his psyche and such, watching his friend LeBron James ink a $90 million endorsement deal should have been some incentive to stay right and focused. Right?

I stayed on that path of thinking for awhile, but ultimately came back to the topic of personal responsibility. Words such as drive, determination and in a larger sense, the importance of having goals floated on the air. It's easier to blame the NFL and NCAA or some other institution for these misdeeds.

It's much harder to just admit that Clarett used bad judgment and took bad advice related to his career. Instead of using the tools available to him while at Ohio State or making the most of his second chance at NFL stardom with the Broncos (admit it, you drafted him late in your early summer drafts because of his association with Denver), Clarett came to camp unprepared and unwilling to make the sacrifices necessary to live out his dream.

And there's nothing wrong with failing in an endeavor. Most of us have failed a test along the education route. A good number of us have been rejected by one or more colleges. Athletes get cut from high school or college teams with great regularity or ride the pine for four years. Remember, less than 1% of the population gets to experience the highs and lows of playing professional sports. Less than 1% of those players go on to become Hall of Famers.

It's what we learn when we fail that counts. I think of the quote from the Alfred character played by Michael Caine in the new "Batman Begins" movie. I know, it's weird, but go with it. "Why do we fall down, Master Wayne? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up."

I'm not even going to talk of the arena football league that Clarett was scheduled to join in January. That part of the story brings up a whole new set of societal issues.

Ultimately, the illegal U-turn might have been the best thing to happen to Clarett at this point in his life. The details of the arrest indicate that one or more people, including Clarett himself, may have met a terrible fate at the end of the ride.

His arrest and the $5 million bond put him in custody for the foreseeable future. Perhaps he can get the help he needs and gain some perspective on his life. At 22, he's got plenty of time to get right and build a future for his family. After all, he's got a three-month-old child to attend to and help navigate this world at the end of this ordeal.

Whether he plays football again or who is to blame is irrelevant at this point.

Clarett gets another chance to pick himself up.