Joe Mixon will be interesting storyline leading into 2017 NFL Draft

Oklahoma Sooners running back Joe Mixon will be one of the most interesting players to monitor leading into the 2017 NFL Draft…

In a draft class full of talent at the running back position, Oklahoma’s Joe Mixon stands out. Perhaps not entirely for the reasons he would like to, but he definitely stands out.

As awareness of domestic violence has increased dramatically, the NFL has on a number of occasions dropped the proverbial hammer on players with an abusive history. Mixon was the offender in a July 2014 incident caught on video. Per an ESPN report:

“The video showed the victim, Amelia Molitor, shoving Mixon and then slapping him. Mixon then punched her in the face, breaking her jaw, eye socket and cheekbone. He received a deferred prison sentence and community service at the time.”

There is no question about Mixon’s football ability, but his off-field incident will be a major question mark in the pre-draft process, and rightly so. Does Mixon represent a team well? Does he come with a risk of repeating this type of attack? Is Mixon’s remorse enough?

The victim was Amelia Molitor, a fellow Oklahoma student who has since graduated. In an excellent piece written over the Summer by The Oklahoman, Molitor had this to say about the fallout of everything that happened:

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“It took something from our family,” Molitor said. “OU’s been a part of my life. It will always have a part of my life. I’ve made lifelong friends here. But it’s not some place I will encourage my children to come to. Not a place I expect to come back to. I don’t ever see myself attending another OU game my entire life. It will never be the same for me…

…Any innocence I had was gone” after the punch, Molitor said. “Robbed me of a full year of the college experience. But it was worth staying (at Oklahoma). I’m stronger than I ever thought I could be.”

The NFL and the 32 teams drafting players have done a horrible job of sending mixed signals about what kind of treatment athletes with domestic violence in their past will receive. You have a guy like Ray Rice, who was also caught on video punching a woman, essentially blacklisted by the league. You have Josh Brown, a kicker for the Giants who admitted to domestic violence. He is unlikely to play in this league again.

But then you have guys like Greg Hardy, who received a number of second chances despite disgusting reports of the way he treated women. You have someone like rookie Tyreek Hill of the Kansas City Chiefs, who was charged after choking his pregnant girlfiend when she caught him allegedly hitting on high school girls.

Hill was named a 1st-team All Pro return specialist by Pro Football Focus this season.

So where does the NFL draw the line? What does it take for someone to be blacklisted, and what does it take for someone to get a second chance?

Right now, it seems to me that the more replaceable you are as a player, the more the NFL sees an opportunity to make an example of you. The more talented you are, the more likely teams are to sweep it under the rug.

I am not opposed entirely to second chances, but the NFL needs to find a way to be consistent, even if these players are not committing these crimes while under contract in the league.

And with that, we could see Mixon drafted as high as the second or third round.