With the 2017 NFL Draft nearing, teams across the league are setting up to land their guy. The Miami Dolphins crossed one potential target off of their list. Running back Joe Mixon from Oklahoma was marked off as a possible draftee for the Dolphins. Mixon, possibly one of the most criticized athletes of 2016, has brought negative attention upon himself after video was released of him attacking a college girl in a restaurant after the girl showed zero interest in entertaining his aggressive presence. Mixon struck the girl one time with a hay-maker like punch, breaking the girls face in four different places. Consequently, Mixon was suspended for the entirety of that season. Recently, Mixon was also was not invited to participate in the NFL Combine, and this has created a bit of a stir.
Miami Dolphins Passing on Joe Mixon is a Good Thing
There’s no question that Mixon is a good athlete, but you have to keep something valuable in mind. The National Football League is a business, like anything else. Joe Mixon had a productive career at Oklahoma. The damage he inflicted to that girl’s face is incredulous and unjustifiable. In the NFL, when your problems exceed your talent, you are no longer a valuable or lucrative investment to a football franchise. The amount of negative attention that a possible signing of Mixon could create is honestly unimaginable and endless. The Miami Dolphins made a very smart, stern move by openly admitting he is no longer a potential target.
When you are in the process of rebuilding a name and trying to be taken seriously again, you absolutely have to make smart moves in the front office. If the Miami Dolphins took a chance on a guy like Mixon, that would be setting the bar low. There’s no question he’s a good athlete. But there are always standards in the NFL, though. There’s a concrete reason as to why Ray Rice and Colin Kaepernick are unemployed right now. Their problems are bigger than their talent. You can apply that logic to any profession as well. If you are a CEO of a company, and you have significant personal issues and are a low contributor, you get fired. That’s life.
So, which ever team that chooses to select Joe Mixon (if any), is taking an incredible chance of negative coverage from all media. Although everyone is deserving of a second chance, some people just aren’t as forgiving. The most criticized athlete of the 2017 NFL Draft is undoubtedly Joe Mixon. It leaves me with one last question. If you were an owner of an NFL franchise, would you take a shot on him? Or is such a move not worth it given the negative press that would accompany him getting drafted?
Ultimately, that’s what teams will have to decide as the draft approaches.
