NFL teams are investigating claims that former Oklahoma Sooners running back Joe Mixon hit a female classmate while in high school, longtime Cowboys personnel evaluator Gil Brandt told PFT Live. Via ProFootballTalk's Michael David Smith:
Longtime personnel evaluator Gil Brandt, who kept Mixon off his list of the Top 150 prospects in this year’s draft, said today on PFT Live that a high school incident is of concern as well.
“I just wouldn’t draft him,” Brandt said of Mixon. “His problems started back in high school.”
Although the incident has been largely overlooked, a man named Anthony Hernandez alleged that Mixon punched his daughter in high school.
“I know for a fact he threw my daughter to the ground and hit her. I went to the school and . . . they hid him in the office. He got no punishment. The police even came. I was escorted off the campus as if I did something wrong. These are simply the facts, he’s a woman beater,” Hernandez said in a report read by the lawyer for Amelia Molitor, the victim in Mixon’s highly publicized incident at Oklahoma.
Teams had major concerns about Mixon due to a 2014 incident in which he punched a woman in the face (he was suspended for the entire 2014 season because of the incident), but several reports indicated that several teams were still interested in drafting him in the first round. However, that may be changing now.
Mixon and his agent have declined the high school allegations, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.
Peter Schaffer, agent for Joe Mixon, categorically denies any incident involving his client striking a female in high school...
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) April 19, 2017
Schaffer: "Nothing happened in high school ... The teams that have asked us about it and have fully done their homework are aware of that."
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) April 19, 2017
The high school has no record of the incident, and Hernandez also issued the following statement to ProFootballTalk:
“I have recently learned that a comment I made about Joe Mixon on social media a few years ago is now receiving a lot of attention. I want to explain that comment and clarify that I do not believe Joe ever did anything to hurt my daughter,” Hernandez wrote.
“My daughter went to Freedom High School with Joe, and they have been friends for much of their lives. Once, when they were in school together, my daughter had a minor disagreement with some of her classmates that got blown out of proportion. Like any father would, I reacted emotionally. Unfortunately, I did so before I had all the facts. Now, having talked to my daughter and investigated the whole story, I realize that I was mistaken about Joe’s involvement. I definitely overreacted, and I regret that my words might have given some people the wrong impression about Joe. I know that Joe did not hurt my daughter, did not intend to, and would not do so."
Mixon rushed for 1,274 yards and 10 touchdowns on 187 carries while catching 37 passes for 538 yards and five more scores last season. He is projected to be taken by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round with the No. 41 overall pick in Chat Sports' latest mock draft.
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