BleedGopher
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2008
- Messages
- 60,774
- Reaction score
- 16,183
- Points
- 113
Per Chris:
Maroney’s career was fleeting but he did have some success. He played with the Patriots from 2006-09, putting together three seasons of 700 or more yards rushing, before spending 2010 with Denver in a season cut short by injuries. He was arrested on weapons and marijuana charges in his native St. Louis in January 2011 and, despite not being found guilty of anything, said the bad publicity played a role in his career ending prematurely.
“It definitely was cut short,” Maroney said. “I really wish it was better. I’m not saying I had the worst. But I felt like there were things that I still wanted to deliver to the game, to the NFL, to showcase what I really had. But it’s water under bridge. You can’t go back and change it. It wasn’t the best, it wasn’t the worst. I know I could have done better.”
Maroney, 37, lives in St. Louis where he works in real estate in rentals and rehabbing homes. He lives with his girlfriend Briante, and they are raising three young children.
Maroney played in just three games the next season before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury, and then had 757 yards rushing in 2009. But the Patriots traded him to the Broncos after he was inactive in the first game in 2010, and he had just 74 yards in four games in an injury-riddled year.
Shortly after that season, with Maroney bound for free agency, he was one of several people in a car that was stopped in St. Louis. He was arrested for allegedly possessing weapons unlawfully and for allegedly being in the possession of marijuana,
It was determined Maroney had a permit to carry concealed weapons and he never was charged for that, though no final determination was made until June 2011. He was charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession before being found not guilty on Aug. 31, 2011. But he never got a chance with another team.
“I end up getting into some off-the-field troubles and (the Broncos) didn’t end up sticking with me and after that I just couldn’t get a workout,” Maroney said. “It was just bad timing. It was the lockout. I get in trouble and it made the news and they stretched it out. I just looked at it (as) teams didn’t want the bad publicity by picking me up. If I was on a team already, it would probably have been swept under the rug, I would have kept playing and had a good career afterward.”
Maroney said it was frustrating having the allegations linger.
“It’s like this dark cloud hovering over me,” he said. “And so by the time the lockout was lifted, I still haven’t been to trial. So right as the lockout was lifted, I end up going to pretrial and the judge threw out the (weapons) case. … But by this time I’d had four or five months of bad publicity. And so once it lifted, I couldn’t get a workout. … I felt like I deserved a second chance.”
Maroney called it “an unfortunate situation.” He ended up training in Miami from 2011-13 but no NFL teams ever called and he retired at age 28.
“I was in the best shape of my life and still couldn’t get a workout,” he said.
Maroney then returned to St. Louis. And a dozen years after playing his final NFL game, he has been able to move on from the disappointment of how his career ended.
“I was like, ‘My time has passed,’ and I figured it out and ended up getting into real estate,” he said. “I’m doing OK. I’m not on the corner asking for money, so I’m good.”
www.twincities.com
Go Gophers!!
Maroney’s career was fleeting but he did have some success. He played with the Patriots from 2006-09, putting together three seasons of 700 or more yards rushing, before spending 2010 with Denver in a season cut short by injuries. He was arrested on weapons and marijuana charges in his native St. Louis in January 2011 and, despite not being found guilty of anything, said the bad publicity played a role in his career ending prematurely.
“It definitely was cut short,” Maroney said. “I really wish it was better. I’m not saying I had the worst. But I felt like there were things that I still wanted to deliver to the game, to the NFL, to showcase what I really had. But it’s water under bridge. You can’t go back and change it. It wasn’t the best, it wasn’t the worst. I know I could have done better.”
Maroney, 37, lives in St. Louis where he works in real estate in rentals and rehabbing homes. He lives with his girlfriend Briante, and they are raising three young children.
Maroney played in just three games the next season before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury, and then had 757 yards rushing in 2009. But the Patriots traded him to the Broncos after he was inactive in the first game in 2010, and he had just 74 yards in four games in an injury-riddled year.
Shortly after that season, with Maroney bound for free agency, he was one of several people in a car that was stopped in St. Louis. He was arrested for allegedly possessing weapons unlawfully and for allegedly being in the possession of marijuana,
It was determined Maroney had a permit to carry concealed weapons and he never was charged for that, though no final determination was made until June 2011. He was charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession before being found not guilty on Aug. 31, 2011. But he never got a chance with another team.
“I end up getting into some off-the-field troubles and (the Broncos) didn’t end up sticking with me and after that I just couldn’t get a workout,” Maroney said. “It was just bad timing. It was the lockout. I get in trouble and it made the news and they stretched it out. I just looked at it (as) teams didn’t want the bad publicity by picking me up. If I was on a team already, it would probably have been swept under the rug, I would have kept playing and had a good career afterward.”
Maroney said it was frustrating having the allegations linger.
“It’s like this dark cloud hovering over me,” he said. “And so by the time the lockout was lifted, I still haven’t been to trial. So right as the lockout was lifted, I end up going to pretrial and the judge threw out the (weapons) case. … But by this time I’d had four or five months of bad publicity. And so once it lifted, I couldn’t get a workout. … I felt like I deserved a second chance.”
Maroney called it “an unfortunate situation.” He ended up training in Miami from 2011-13 but no NFL teams ever called and he retired at age 28.
“I was in the best shape of my life and still couldn’t get a workout,” he said.
Maroney then returned to St. Louis. And a dozen years after playing his final NFL game, he has been able to move on from the disappointment of how his career ended.
“I was like, ‘My time has passed,’ and I figured it out and ended up getting into real estate,” he said. “I’m doing OK. I’m not on the corner asking for money, so I’m good.”
Former Gophers star Laurence Maroney came to grips with NFL career ending prematurely
Weapons and marijuana charges, for which he was later found not guilty, ended his NFL career after five seasons.
www.twincities.com
Go Gophers!!
