Maurice Clarett addresses the media at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. AP

INDIANAPOLIS -- He was humbled. He was contrite. So much so that his initials on this day could have stood for Mea Culpa.

Maurice Clarett on Thursday returned to the scene of perhaps his most glaring mis-step last year and gamely tried to make amends to the NFL community that he largely alienated at the 2004 NFL Scouting Combine. Sounding more mature and looking as if he was in the best shape of his football career, Clarett met the media at the Indiana Convention Center and launched into a wide-ranging and probing self-analysis of the ground he has covered since his landmark attempt to sue his way into last year's draft.

This much is clear: Clarett in the last year obviously learned how to accept some coaching, crediting his attorney, David Kenner, of Orange County, Calif., with helping him "mature as a man.''

Was the new Maurice Clarett convincing? Yes, he was, admitting to a series of mistakes and a lack of humility in his first crack at the combine experience, when he showed up out of shape, sporting a chip on his shoulder and fared poorly in team interviews.

But will his stark personality make-over bring the desired results, bumping him up from his projected second-day draft status? That remains to be seen for the former Ohio State running back, who has not played a game since taking part in the Fiesta Bowl national championship game against Miami in January 2003.

Here are the quotable highlights of Clarett's rather fascinating and public baring of his soul, which followed him going through a litany of physical tests Thursday morning as part of the combine's medical screening process:

Q: Any regrets about your visit to the combine last year?

"I don't really look at it. It's kind of like a blessing in that I got a second chance to make a first impression.''

Q: What will a team be getting in you, as a person and a player?

"A more positive person. I've got a lot greater work ethic than I had last year. I think my drive is a whole lot more determined than I was last year. I just want to work, I don't care if it's special teams, anything, just get me on the field. I want to play with anybody.''

Q: What was the biggest thing you learned about yourself?

"Probably humility. Being humble. I don't want to say I was humble in the past all the time. I might have said some things to the media I shouldn't have said and things like that. (My lawyer, David Kenner, in Orange County, Calif.) taught me to be humble. It's a humbling thing being humble.''

Q: What changed your thinking? Was it any one event?

"I don't think I really can say. Just that I had to take a look at myself from outside myself. When I looked at myself, sometimes I kind of looked like a joke to myself. I guess it was a part of growing up and becoming who I am today. I just looked at it like one of you all might at me and be like, 'He wasn't mature.' I did some things I shouldn't have done. I've taken responsibility for all those things and I'm just ready to move forward.''

Q: Do you wish your college career had turned out differently?

"Of course. But I think that whole process was just part of me becoming a man.''

Q: A year later, were team executives correct in their criticism of you at last year's combine, when they called you immature?

"I would say so.''

Q: What were your mistakes of last year? Do you regret challenging the draft rules?

"No. [But] I made some mistakes that are obvious to everybody in this room, and I paid for 'em.''