If there’s one team that notoriously cares less about player character and more about second chances than anyone else in the NFL, it’s the Cincinnati Bengals. So it’s no surprise that they took Joe Mixon with the No. 48 overall pick in the draft.
Cincinnati traded down from their spot at 41 to 48 in a trade with Minnesota, picking up a 4th-round pick as part of the deal. While the Vikings took one player with character concerns — Dalvin Cook — the Bengals took the most notorious player in the draft.
Mixon was suspended for the entire 2014 season at Oklahoma for punching a female student and breaking bones in her face. He recently settled the civil suit with the victim. Mixon was also suspended a game last season for an incident with a parking attendant.
Bengals owner Mike Brown approved the pick for Cincinnati. His feeling has always been that it’s the coaches’ jobs to keep the players in line. Numerous teams removed Mixon from their draft boards because of his character and history.
When the pick was announced by Bengals legend Anthony Munoz, the fans in Philly responded with boos:
Joe Mixon, No. 48 to Cincinnati Bengals. Former #Sooners RB goes in second round: pic.twitter.com/p8XIGxPnn9
— Bob Przybylo (@BPrzybylo) April 29, 2017
Among the questionable character players the Bengals have embraced in recent years include:
Pacman Jones, Vontaze Burfict, Cedric Benson, Tank Johnson, AJ Nicholson and the late Chris Henry. You can now add Mixon to the list.
