In the NFL draft last Friday, the Cincinnati Bengals selected a very talented football player who did a terrible thing his freshman year at college.
The player – Joe Mixon – is a top level football player by everyone’s account. Joe’s regrettable deed was that he struck a young woman, another student, shortly after arriving on campus in Norman, Oklahoma, three years ago.
Joe and this young woman recently met in person, came to terms with the incident, and they agreed to resolve their differences so they could move forward with their lives. While the circumstances that led up to the incident are unclear – what is clear is that it is unacceptable for a man to strike a woman.
Since the incident three years ago, Joe was suspended by the football team, pleaded guilty in court, and accepted the consequences of his actions. He later went on to become a good citizen in Norman, a popular teammate, a player respected by his coaches, and one of the most talented players in college football.
This has been a difficult topic for me and NFL dilemmas such as this have bounced about my mind far too often in recent years. Once is too often. Michael Vick, Ray Rice, Joe Mixon. For the most part I don't think that Mixon should have the opportunity to play in the NFL. Then as soon as I want to banish him forever I think that a person deserves a second chance. A person shouldn't be permanently judged by one poor decision. Then I think again about his crime. Striking a woman as Mixon did simply shouldn't be done. There's no decision that needs to be made. There's a whole host of things that Mixon could've done in that situation and punching her shouldn't even make the list. Yet, that's what he chose to do. And now he's a second round pick in the draft. I'm glad that I'm not the one that has to decide whether Joe Mixon gets to join the NFL's little club. I'm also glad that the Minnesota Vikings weren't the team to give him his opportunity. There were some draft analysts that connected Mixon with the Vikings. That was mostly due to the attention that the team paid to him at the Oklahoma Pro Day. He's a tremendous football talent and head coach Mike Zimmer and team decision-makers were simply trying to see if the person matched the crime. They were doing their job. I never bought the possibility of Mixon in Minnesota simply because I couldn't imagine the Vikings owners signing off on it and drafting a player with this sort of baggage is ultimately an owner's decision. The Vikings and Bengals did swap picks in the second round. The Vikings moved up to pick Florida State running back Dalvin Cook at #41 overall and the Bengals dropped back to pick Mixon at #48. So there was a Minnesota-Mixon connection after all. Thankfully, he's the Bengals problem now. A Cincinnati television station has encouraged a boycott of the games. There's been enough outrage over the pick that the owner had to address it. If Mixon's football talent shows on the field and he stays clean off of it, many fans that are outraged now will be less so later.
Should a person that did what Joe Mixon did be rewarded with his football dream? Neither option seems right. I suppose that if he's answered for his crime in a satisfactory manner he shouldn't be kept from that dream. As long as it's in Cincinnati.
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