QB Art Schlichter (official thread)

[Buckskin86]

Former OSU quarterback Art Schlichter to be at Barnes and Noble in Miamisburg
By Carlos "Big C" Holmes
Monday, September 21, 2009

Art Schlichter will be at the Barnes and Noble in Miamisburg (2619 Miamisburg-Centerville Drive) to discuss and sign copies of his new book ?Busted the Rise and Fall of Art Schlichter? on Thursday, September 24th at 7pm. Schlichter was a star quarterback for Ohio State University who ended up being chosen by the Baltimore Colts in the first round of the 1982 draft only to be let go a few years later due to his rising gambling problems. Schlichter would end up spending 10 years of his life in 40 different prisons around Ohio, Baltimore, Indiana and Kentucky for fraud and racketeering, crimes he committed as he tried to obtain more money to feed his gripping addiction.

Schlichter?s 22 chapter tell-all highlights the highs and lows of his life: from his glory days at Ohio State to the sad details of his life on the run and then in prison. Schlichter struggles with the desire to gamble on a daily basis and avoids such things as reading point spreads in the newspaper. ?It kinda gets the juices flowing so I don?t read them at all,? Schlichter told a large crowd at his book signing last week at a Barnes and Noble in Columbus.

Schlichter said that he wanted to write this book to help others who are struggling with addiction. ?I want my life to serve as a warning to others; I truly hope this book can help someone quit gambling or get help for any addiction before things get really ugly for them.?

Schlichter has been out of prison for three years and has been busy with his radio job at WTVN out of Columbus and his assistant coaching position for a high school football team in Indiana. He is also called upon from time to time to help families of addicts conduct interventions for loved ones who are battling to survive. Schlichter does not want anyone to live the life he has had. ?I don?t feel bad about spending ten years of my life in prison. I feel bad that I spent ten years of my daughters lives in prison. I missed watching them grow up and that was the worst punishment of all.?

DaytonDailyNews: Dayton, Ohio, news and information

[CCI]

God is granting Art the Serenity to accept the things he cannot change Courageto change the things he can and the Wisdom to know the difference.

Congrats Art One Day At a Time

[Buckskin86]

Schlichter now an author
Former OSU star says he's also a changed man
By John Erardi ? jerardi@enquirer.com ? September 25, 2009

MIAMISBURG ? Art Schlichter ? hairline receding, slight bald spot on the top of his head, shirt tail out, jeans, loafers, no socks ? is an hour early for his 7 p.m. book signing, in plenty of time to do a pre-sign interview.

He has asked to kill two birds with one stone because he likes to maintain some aspect of privacy in his life, which for 10 years had none, when he was in prison on gambling-related offenses including fraud and forgery. He doesn?t want reporters visiting him at home in Washington Court House, where he lives with his mother, or visiting the high school ?in Indiana? where he is an assistant football coach. He doesn?t want them pestering his teenaged daughters or his ex-wife, who has remarried.

The former Ohio State star quarterback was as big as they come: He played for Woody Hayes as a freshman and has the stories to prove it; as a sophomore was ?as good a quarterback as Ohio State ever had,? according to coach Earle Bruce; had an even better senior year, when he played hurt; was in the top six in the Heisman Trophy voting three years in a row; and was the No. 4 overall pick in the 1982 NFL Draft.

How good was Schlichter? Three decades after he left Ohio State, he still holds the school records for passing yards and total touchdowns.

?Welcome back, Arthur,? OSU coach Jim Tressel told him in late 2006, coming over to shake his hand when Schlichter was invited back to Ohio Stadium to stand on the sidelines with his former teammates for the Michigan game.

Schlichter now an author | Cincinnati.com | The Cincinnati Enquirer

[Buckskin86]

Saturday, September 26, 2009
Q and A with Art Schlichter

Art Schlichter sat down with John Erardi for a half hour before his book signing last Thursday night in Miamisburg to talk about book, his gambling and his regrets.
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? Survey: Tell us your thoughts about Art Schlichter

Q. A lot of people - certainly your fans -- seem to be rooting for you to turn your life around, to stay away from gambling and out of prison.

A. I've been very fortunate to have had good support, all the way through. Fans, family, friends, everybody's been good. Been through a lot, but I don't think anybody wants to let you suffer forever. And with this addiction, it seems like you suffer forever. It's been a long battle.

Q. There are some funny parts in this book, especially about prison.

A. You kind of have to laugh about some of it. There were a lot of funny things that happened in prison. You don't want to be in prison and to have to go through any of that, but you have to tell the whole story.

Q. Was there a point before you went to prison when somebody could have saved you, or you could have saved yourself?

A. I don't know what anybody could've done. It's a hidden disease, kind of a secret disease. People don't like to talk about it. They can't taste it, touch it or smell it. It's insidious. At that point (when his habit had become a full-blown addictive, compulsive disorder when he had turned pro and the NFL players went on strike in 1982) I didn't know I was a compulsive gambler. I just knew I liked to gamble, and I was miserable when I lost and wanted to go back and win the money I lost, immediately...There were many points that I've looked at, where I've said, 'Man, if I had just stopped right there, I'd have been OK.' Even after I came home from prison for the first time, if I had just stopped right there, my life wouldn't have been as crazy. It would have been a free life, a better life, for me and my kids.

Q. Did anybody ever try to really intervene? I know your wife did, but anybody else?

A. Well, my parents did. Numerous times. They tried to intervene (and) help me. They'd have some success for short periods of time.

Q Did the success you had at Ohio State - especially early; you had such a great sophomore year - go to your head?

A. I think one of the problems (a person can have) when you're in that position is the hype, the accolades, the attention you get. It can sometimes make you soft. I think that happened to me. I got distracted with gambling, I didn't concentrate on what I needed to do. My last two years , I had a good senior year, and my junior year was OK. Actually, I thought my senior year was my best year there (at Ohio State). But yes, I got distracted, it (the adulation) made me softer...I allowed it to take away my edge...But I take responsibility for what happened to me.

Q and A with Art Schlichter | Kentucky Enquirer | nky.com

[Buckskin86]

Include treatment, Schlichter beseeches Ohio
Advice on casinos from a compulsive gambler
By Krista Ramsey ? October 2, 2009



Art Schlichter is a complicated man who elicits simple reactions. People despise him or sympathize with him, view him as utterly untrustworthy or tragically fallen.


But, whatever conflicted reactions he elicits, he provides a rare look into the head of a compulsive gambler.

It is an uncomfortable but instructive exercise as Ohioans look likely to pass a casino bill.

Schlichter is the former Ohio State quarterback who, from 1994 to 2006, spent 10 years in 44 jails and prisons for illegal gambling.

He started as a teenager, with a $300 withdrawal from his bank account to bet on horse races at Scioto Downs. He and his friends won a trifecta; he was hooked.

Over the next three decades "chasing," as he calls compulsive gambling, would cost him more than $1.5 million, along with his marriage and professional career.

Schlichter has been through years of counseling. He knows the numbers on his addiction the way he knew his opponent's statistics back in his playing days. But even he is hard-pressed to explain the decision-making process of a pathological gambler.

"It's bottom," he says. "It's like you're in a trance when you get in there. What may seem like some harmless hours of action ends up in destruction again and again and again."

Include treatment, Schlichter beseeches Ohio | Cincinnati.com | The Cincinnati Enquirer

[MaxBuck]

Schlichter didn't spend all that time in prison for "illegal gambling." Most of it was for fraud, forgery and theft. He was a con man who swindled hundreds of people. Saying it was for gambling minimizes his criminality.

I feel compassion for the man because of his addiction, but most addicts do not cause financial ruin for so many other people.

[CCI]

Originally Posted by MaxBuck

Schlichter didn't spend all that time in prison for "illegal gambling." Most of it was for fraud, forgery and theft. He was a con man who swindled hundreds of people. Saying it was for gambling minimizes his criminality.

I feel compassion for the man because of his addiction, but most addicts do not cause financial ruin for so many other people.

True, but most addict are like a tornado ripping through lives of the people that they love and that care about them, both friends and family. The damage from the addiction becomes like a huge encompassing spiderweb that snags up anything or anyone in the addicts path. Some people become victims of the addict due to being manipulated, some from empathy and then others are caught in the web due to the fact that they are an enabler.


You really have to look at the bigger picture. All addicts cause huge financial ruin for anyone around them that they can use. It might not be on a scale as big as Art Schlicter's--but it still hurts people both emotionally and financially. Also, as in Art's case there will probably never be any trust built in any of the lives of those that he broke it with.

[Buckskin86]

Schlichter gets new life in Tell City
Former NFL QB is offensive coordinator for Marksmen
By Gordon Engelhardt
Posted October 6, 2009

TELL CITY, Ind. ? Tell City High School football coach Don Hitz is a strong believer in second chances.

That helps explain why Art Schlichter, the former Ohio State University and NFL quarterback, is now one of Hitz's assistant coaches.

While Schlichter was one of the most highly sought recruits in the nation, Hitz was also a prep standout in football-mad Ohio in the late 1970s. Attending Indiana State University, Hitz continued to follow the career of Schlichter, who was fourth in the Heisman Trophy balloting his sophomore year at Ohio State.


Art Schlichter

After three lackluster seasons with the Baltimore and Indianapolis Colts, Schlichter was suspended during the 1983 season by the NFL after the league discovered he had more than $150,000 in outstanding gambling debts.

A confessed compulsive gambler, Schlichter estimated that he has been in more than 30 prisons, most recently the Branchville Correctional Facility in Tell City. Along with co-author Jeff Snook, Schlichter wrote "Busted: The Rise and Fall of Art Schlichter," which hit bookstores in late August.

Last spring, Hitz found his new offensive coordinator.

"He was on parole here and I asked him, 'Can you come coach with us?' I gave him the opportunity and the school board was gracious enough to let him coach with us," Hitz said. "He has done an outstanding job. The kids love him."

From a first-round NFL draft choice to the football fields of the Pocket Athletic Conference, Schlichter relishes the opportunity on the smaller stage. He began working with the Tell City staff and players in the spring, but originally planned to coach only part-time.

On weekends, he often drives back and forth from Tell City to Ohio State games, serving as a commentator for a Columbus, Ohio, radio station.

He also runs Gambling Prevention Awareness, a nonprofit foundation.

"He doesn't drink or smoke," Hitz said. "The only thing he ever did was gamble."

Schlichter gets new life in Tell City ? Evansville Courier & Press

[Buckskin86]

Jon Spencer: Schlichter holds nothing back
By JON SPENCER ? News Journal ? October 9, 2009

He went from playing in the 'Shoe, to praying in the SHU; from taking command in The Big House to taking commands in the big house.
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The latest chapter in Art Schlichter's incredible saga has seen the former Ohio State quarterback and compulsive gambler morph into tell-all author and Tell City football coach.

Schlichter, three years clear of his last day behind bars for gambling-related offenses, was at the Barnes & Noble Bookseller in Ontario on Thursday to sign copies of his autobiography, "Busted, The Rise and Fall of Art Schlichter."

Virtually every aspect of his life is covered in this can't-put-it-down 246-page hardback -- his evolution from the most-ballyhooed schoolboy quarterback ever in this state to All-American for the Buckeyes, from first-round NFL pick to the first pro suspended in 20 years for gambling, from Big Ten MVP to prison's solitary confinement, or SHU (Special Housing Unit.)

His only friend during his six months of isolation was a 20-watt lightbulb.

"I wondered if I wanted to go down memory lane, but the book was therapeutic," Schlichter said. "The toughest part was going back and and reliving the emotional part, being in the hole (for betting in prison). But you've got to go back and relive it if you're going to express what it was really like."

Jon Spencer: Schlichter holds nothing back | mansfieldnewsjournal.com | Mansfield News Journal

[Buckskin86]

Pryor hasn't taken 'Artful' leap yet

BY JON SPENCER ? CentralOhio.com ? October 15, 2009

As bad as Terrelle Pryor has looked at times, his predecessor as the best damn high school quarterback in the land was worse.

Art Schlichter's debut season at Ohio State, before there were pass efficiency ratings (mercifully), saw him toss four touchdowns and 21 interceptions. His mother of all ill-fated throws sealed a Gator Bowl loss and saw Woody Hayes go Braylon Edwards on the Clemson linebacker who made the pick.

If thief Charlie Bauman had been a friend of LeBron James, Woody wouldn't have gotten off as easy as he did just getting fired. He would have been banished from the state.

OSU fans might have been happy to see Woody take Schlichter with him.

Fortunately, Schlichter got better. In 1979, as a sophomore, he took the Buckeyes to within two points of winning a national championship and was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, a boast he could make three times in an All-America career.

That's the difference between the two No. 1 high school recruits who have taken snaps for the Buckeyes in the past three decades. Schlichter improved immensely from year one to year two. Pryor, who is redefining the term "sophomore jinx," has not.

Pryor hasn't taken 'Artful' leap yet | lancastereaglegazette.com | Lancaster Eagle Gazette

[Buckskin86]

Doc: More than an Issue for Art Schlichter
By Paul Daugherty ? pdaugherty@enquirer.com ? October 30, 2009

Mila Schlichter is 73 years old and sounds tired. Her health isn't the best. She says "I'm not sure I can answer that'' a lot. She isn't a big talker. But on one subject, she opens the smallest of doors. It's important to her. "Having lived the life we've lived with gambling, it's a very damaging thing,'' she says.

Mila was always there for her son. Nobody else was. Art Schlichter spent a decade in prison. "Ten years, seven months and two weeks, inside 44 various jails or prisons'' he writes in his new autobiography, Busted. Only Mila was always visiting, driving to Indiana or Ohio or Maryland, across the miles, to wherever it was they'd moved her boy this time. She'd take Art's two daughters with her. And her heartache. Mila took that, too. Every time.
Gambling "doesn't just damage the person affected,'' she says. "It damages children, nieces, nephews, good friends.'' And mothers. It cuts mothers to the marrow. "If your child hurts, you hurt. That's about as good as I can do, talking about that,'' says Mila.

Issue 3 is on the ballot Tuesday. Either you want casino gambling in Ohio, or you don't. I don't know. I'm a three-legged chair, wobbling. If people want to gamble, that's what they'll do, one way or another, here or somewhere beyond the state line. We might as well keep their money home.

Morality isn't an issue, or shouldn't be, unless you're perfect. My brother is his own keeper. If he wants to bet the rent money on an ace-high pair of sixes, that's his business. If he gets crazy-addicted to the action, the way Art Schlichter did, that's his business, too.

You can be dispassionate like that. It's easy, until you talk with someone like Mila Schlichter, who sounds tired. "Once it gets ahold of you and (you) end up in prison contemplating suicide, you see it's something that's much more than a habit,'' she says. She's talking about her son, of course.

I never thought gambling was an addiction until I met Art Schlichter. It was 1992 or '93. We did a radio show together every Friday afternoon, on the old WSAI. Art was very good. He was naturally glib and boy-next-door friendly. He knew sports, partly because he bet sports. The show was a lot of fun. Art was a lot of fun.

Doc: More than an Issue for Art Schlichter | cincinnati.com | Cincinnati.Com

[Buckskin86]

OSU star, gambling addict campaigns against Issue 3
Brad Dicken

ELYRIA - Art Schlichter knows a lot about gambling.

That?s why the former Ohio State quarterback whose professional football career was destroyed by his crippling gambling addiction said he is crisscrossing the state telling anyone who will listen that Issue 3 is a bad idea.

The proposed constitutional amendment would allow the construction of casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo. Its backers say it will create 34,000 new jobs and boost the state?s sagging economy.

Among those pushing the casino is Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, whose company would win the right under the issue to build casinos in Cleveland and Cincinnati. Another company, Penn National Gaming Inc., would build casinos in Toledo and Columbus cities. The licensing fees for each casino would be $50 million.

But Schlichter claimed this week during an interview at The Chronicle-Telegram that the issue would do nothing to help those the new casinos would harm.

?This is a horrible problem,? he said. ?Seven percent of the people who walk through those doors are going to become problem gamblers.?

OSU star, gambling addict campaigns against Issue 3 | Chronicle-Telegram