Traffic
I am who I am. I do what I do and it is what it is. It takes a lot of courage and character to keep going on after what I’ve been through. Some people have gone crazy and have never recovered from the crazy state of mind due to the stress that was imposed on them. Respect the fact that I’ve put in the work necessary to get my life back in order. Extreme depression and excessive amounts of stress can mess up anyone’s life. If everyone will just take a moment to imagine with me an 18 yr old who is not well traveled or formally educated and has only been faced with urban challenges. In a nutshell that’s who I was when I was dealing with problems that I didn’t have the capacity to understand, manage, control, or properly assess. I didn’t have the intelligence or the resources to reach out to the appropriate human resources to help me out in those situations that I faced as a teenager. The majority of the events that I’ve been through are unprecedented. It will be interesting to see someone do a psychological analysis on all parties in situations like mines. Take my situation and manufacture it with another human being and let’s watch how things play out. Looking back now, at 25 and with a little more intelligence, things were and still are overwhelming and hard to understand. I still can’t seem to understand what took place completely. I have different ideas and theories but it will forever be a mystery. I’m sure everyone that was involved can’t quite understand what took place. It’s not like I’m searching for an answer. I’m just expressing my late night thoughts. Someone sent me a photo to autograph and the photo sent me down memory lane. My choices weren’t the best but I don’t believe people should have written me off the way they did. If you really had love for me you would not have cast me off like a lot of people did without understanding what really took place. At 19 years old circumstances were beyond me. I am who I am though. I’m here and I’m strong. I have a vision. I’m serious and I have integrity. On another note, I have to get something off my mind. It took quite some time to write these next lines…but here they are. I wish much success to all my old friends who forgot about me. That goes from the rich ones to the poor ones. There will never be any hard feelings once I’m released but I will forever remember who stood by my side when things got hard. Now that the popularity, women, clubs, clothes, jewelry, cars, and bright lights are gone, so are you all. I’ll let you all live with that. I have never been hard to find or reach. People make time for things that are important to them. It’s obvious that I’m not important to any of my old friends. I’ll have the last laugh though. Success speaks for itself. Entourage out, family in. No mail, no photos, no magazines, no money orders, or visits…no problem. I’ll save my spare time for my daughter. It hurts when you think that you don’t matter, or should I say, didn’t matter in someone’s life. It makes me feel like the good and bad times that were spent together meant nothing. I’m not looking to reconnect with any of you. I’m just here to say that for future reference, if you ever have a friend who runs into an uncomfortable situation take the time out of your day to make sure that friend is forever good if you have the ability to. Real friends do real things.
July 30, 2009 at 7:26 pm
dear maurice,
sad to hear that the people that were once so close are long lost and forgotten. just wanted to tell you i am a fan of yours and have always wished for nothing but the best for you. here is a funny little story i first saw you play your first game against texas tech i thinkl you went for 175 yrds and 3 tds my dad and i were amazed i was so excited for what was to come, so excited we were getting a new dog, a doberman, I named him maurice. now we call him moe for short. well let me know if you get this and i will write more
August 2, 2009 at 2:21 am
I grew up watching ohio state…and when i saw you play it gave me the chills. You were different from every other player.and when you got kicked out of ohio state i was devistated…and i have yet to see another player like you.Im 16 right now and playing high school football. i hope i can be half as good as you were…best of luck man
David Hollinger
August 8, 2009 at 7:35 pm
I’ve always been a huge FAN, but never knew anything about your personal life, and still don’t. I only know of you what I have read online and in newspapers, and I know that I’ll never what is truth and what is story. As a FAN I came across your blog and have read only a smalll part. From this post I learned you have a daughter and also that you feel forgotten by old friends and are re-dedicated to family. That is such a GREAT step forward. I’d just like to encourage you to pursue your relationships with family and do what you can to always be there for your daughter. I’ve recently reconnected with family that I thought was long gone. I had let go of one of my family members, but have thankfully re-established that relationship and my life is better for it. Yes, sometimes even family will disappoint, but never forget them. They will always, eventually come back to you if you are willing. Friends may not.
I am and always will be a huge Buckeyes FAN. I am also a Maurice FAN. I wish you the BEST whether it is in football, relationships or whatever lies next in your life.
August 10, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Your writings are very interesting. I hope you do get the chance to reach your goals. You are correct my friend, you see and will only see your real friends when you are down. You are young and have much living to do. I wish you the best.