The Cincinnati Bengals drafted Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon on Friday evening in the second round. Mixon was believed to be the most talented running back in the draft, but because he punched a woman in 2014, teams were understandably against selecting him.
Only 4 of 32 NFL teams said they would’ve picked Joe Mixon, per anonymous survey
Many teams said no to Mixon, but there were four willing to call his name during the draft.
Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
After Mixon was drafted, Adam Schefter gave us an idea of just how many teams said they would not take him.
One AFC executive told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Bob McGinn, “I don’t have the confidence in him to draft him. We can get another back.” He added, “You may turn down a special guy but the special guy’s got risks. I couldn’t do it.”
Another executive told McGinn, “How can you in our (large) market? How could you in any market take that guy early or in general? Off the board,” an AFC executive said to McGinn. “Me, personally, I’d have a very hard time living with that.”
Of course, there were four teams who said that they would. An NFC executive that spoke to McGinn said, “What he did was terrible. It was three years ago. He got suspended for a year. It’s not like he hasn’t paid a price. Since he did, he’s been fine. It will come down to the owner. I think a lot of owners will be very skeptical doing it. If I was in the 20s I’d take him.”
Mixon punched the woman in July of 2014 at a sandwich shop in Norman. Police began their investigation three days after the incident. He was charged with misdemeanor assault on Aug. 15 of that year, and suspended for the entire 2014 season.
Mixon reached an Alford plea deal in the case, allowing him to maintain innocence, but also admitting that there was enough evidence to convict.
The City of Norman initially ruled to not release the video, despite many open records requests for it. A county judge also ruled that they did not have to release the video.
Ultimately, the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals ruled that the district court’s reasoning to not release the video was wrong. On Dec. 6, 2016, the Oklahoma Supreme Court decided that the video must be released for public viewing.
Mixon and the woman settled in the civil case in April of 2017. Terms of the settlement were not released, but the two released a joint statement on the matter.
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