The kid who hammered a female student in the face at Oklahoma University did not get the call last night. He may still be chosen by a needy team, but football guys with his stats usually go fairly high. I’ve got to say that he probably deserves his fall from grace. I watched the video of his confrontation with the woman. Yeah, she wasn’t an angel but he and his crowd apparently instigated the entire event with catcalls and lewd comments, and his reaction and force was over the top.
I can’t decide if he should have been expelled from OU. The world has changed since the Ray Rice affair. In any event, his behavior and subsequent NFL Draft foible has cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential NFL contract money.
I suspect if he is drafted it will be in a deeper round, the NFL these days is very, very aware of how bad it has looked with these kinds of issues, and no team is going to want to give the impression that they want to reward someone with a major contract who has this kind of baggage. He likely is too good not to be drafted, but if he is likely will be in the 3rd round or below, where the contracts are less, or maybe even undrafted free.
I hope he remains undrafted and no team signs him, even if he’s a free agent. Ray Rice had a lot of talent too, but nobody wanted him either. Video is powerful.
Well, Ray Rice’s most recent seasons were fairly mediocre. At best he might have signed as 1/2 dozen carry or less running back he had not assaulted Mrs. Rice. Judging by Commissioner Goodell’s comments this morning, the league office might be wiling to hire Ray Rice as a consultant domestic abuse prevention. I predict Mixon will be on someone’s roster this fall. Pac Man Jones fired gun shots in a public hall and even he resumed his pro career. He’s a bad hombre.
Ray Rice still would have been a heck of a third-down back. In fact… nah. Though he hasn’t been taking a beating the past couple years, that’s a while to be out of the game.
However, teams will adjust their valuation of him downward due to the risk of unpredictable missed games and bad publicity due to trouble with the law.
I believe, for most crimes, that people can be redeemed and rehabilitated. For other crimes there are no second chances. I don’t know exactly what Mixon did. Hit a woman. Caught on video. Not sure if it was adjudicated or not. Should his prospects in the career he is most suited for be ruined forever?
Some here probably would think so so that it sends the appropriate message. He will drop 3 or 4 rounds farther than he should have gone and that will cost him a few million dollars. Some might say he has been punished appropriately.
This is a question with implications in the wider job market than just professional sports. Some employer background checks now look for arrest (as opposed to conviction) records involving prospective employees, since employers feel that even just an arrest (not necessarily conviction) increases the risk to the employer.
Of course, having a conviction (versus an arrest) can be a more serious detriment to one’s ability to be employed in a non-criminal job, which may have something to do with high recidivism rates. (There can also be effects of race or SES discrimination, if members of some groups are arrested and convicted at higher rates than others relative to the rates of crimes committed.)
For the record, Ray Rice was about 10 years older at around 28 years old when he was arrested. I don’t know what the right answer is, but I know my expectations would be a little different for a 28-year old than an 18-year old.
He’ll obviously be dinged a lot of money, but I’m sure the incident will “dog him” for the rest of his life and he’ll always wear that Scarlet letter. And I’m not even sure that’s enough.
There is a good chance if he gets an NFL contract he lives a normal life , integrates himself back into society, pays taxes for the next 30 years and ends up raising a family. His NFL career will not last 30 years but, if he is smart, he can set himself up for life with a few NFL contracts. Of course, we wouldn’t that to happen. It would be better for all involved if we ship him off to some island somewhere so he can live in shame for the rest of his life. He should be punished for all men hitting all women not the one incident he actually did. That is what people want. His crime doesn’t matter. Use him to send a message to all men regardless of his actual offense.
It is important to send a message both to players and to the football establishment, whether it is the NFL or the college football system where coaches and cops cover up felonies by these clowns. Mixon said “oh, I was an 18 year old kid”, as if an 18 year old doesn’t know the difference. I saw the tape, and while the girl got in his face, the size difference was huge, and he had absolutely no excuse…not to mention that probably thanks to the school, for breaking 4 bones in her face he got a slap on the wrist, misdemeanor assault, community service.
I don’t think he should be banned from the NFL, but I would wish he went deeper in the draft or maybe unsigned free, so these clowns get it through their thick heads, and the coaches and school football programs, that there are going to be consequences for when players do things like this.
There were consequences. There always are. I just saw the tape too. Horrible. I also just saw ESPN report that they settled out of court and I also saw the interview I presume you saw where he said “I was an 18 YO kid” and in the very next sentence said that wasn’t an excuse for what he did. In the very next sentence. He took responsibility for his actions, he paid for it legally, etc. etc. and yes she did not only get up in his face she pushed him not that it matters but then again maybe it does matter some. There were consequences although by going early in the 2nd round he didn’t lose nearly as much money as people expected.
If you believe the statement released to the press by the woman’s attorney – this was not his first offense. Anthony Hernandez the father of a girl that Mixon went to High School with claims he hit his D and then threw her to the ground. He submitted an affidavit part of which said this:
I also think you have to factor in what transpired before the altercation. When the woman and her friends were walking into Campus Corner his friends approached her and told her it was Mixon’s birthday. They said she would make a good “present” and asked her “what are you going to do for him?” They then suggested things he might like in very explicit detail. She was quite clear that she was not interested but they persisted making very degrading comments. She finally said " I wouldn’t go home with you in a million years" and then walked inside with her friends.
Nixon was apparently insulted by her words and he followed her inside – then started on her again. He insulted one of her male friends with a homophobic slur. She told him once more to go away and he then called her a very insulting word. That’s when she pushed him.
Here is a woman that did everything people always say women should do when they are faced with unwelcome advances – she was very clear she had no interest and then fought back. She ended up unconscious with broken facial bones.