Kenton Gibbs
Kenton Gibbs
In light of past events as well as the upcoming NFL Draft, the looming “question” of do character flaws hurt a player’s chances in the NFL comes up again. The league has shown time after time that character does not matter. You could be pure evil but if you have a cannon for an arm and can anticipate throwing windows, then your sick behavior doesn’t matter. This had been a pattern since the inception of the league; it’s just more apparent now than ever.
Aaron Hernandez’s suicide has made many people bring up his past. And by that I mean, all of his troubles starting back from failing drug tests to alleged temper problems at Florida. However, the Patriots drafted him with the 14th pick of the fourth round in the NFL Draft. Despite the prior problems his talent was undeniable. During his collegiate career at the University of Florida, he snagged 111 receptions, and led the team with 68 in his junior season. That same season he earned the John Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end.
Granted, no one could see signs that a murderer was there, but still character issue red flags aren’t determining factors as many people say they are. There are more examples with character issues worse than his but they were still accepted and sometimes earlier than that. The Kansas City Chiefs have two prime examples of this on their roster.
Tyreek Hill and Marcus Peters are the epitome of when taking the chance on low-character guys pays off. Peters was heading into his junior season at the University of Washington, touted as one of the best defensive players in the nation. He was dismissed from the team after multiple incidents of clashing with Washington’s new coaching staff. The Chiefs selected the lengthy cover man with the 18th overall pick in the following draft. Peters led the league in interceptions last year.
Then there’s Hill who was a high school All-American who enrolled at Oklahoma State University following the completion of his sophomore year at Garden City Community College. Hill was a highly desired junior college recruit due to his blazing-fast speed; in fact, he clocked a 9.98 in the 100-meter dash at the 2013 Hutchison NJCCA Championships.
In his junior year, he was dismissed from Oklahoma State after he was arrested for strangling and assaulting his pregnant girlfriend. Following his arrest, Hill has done a lot to help the survivor of his abuse, and he went without incident for the rest of his collegiate career. Despite his domestic violence history, he was taken in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Chiefs and instantly made an impact, scoring 12 touchdowns in his rookie season.
In last year’s Pro Bowl, 11 of the 44 participants had public incidents of criminal-level misconduct on their records. That’s 25 percent of the players, but history shows that NFL general managers will gladly invest in their talent. It may hurt their draft stock or their free agency values, but it doesn’t make them completely undesirable. Character issues carry weight, but it isn’t the deciding factor.
As Arizona Cardinals General Manager Steve Keim once said, “If Hannibal Lecter ran a 4.3, we’d probably diagnose it as an eating disorder.” Things like that and the saying of the late great Al Davis make one thing clear. When it comes to taking a risk on character issues, the rule of thumb is, “Just win, baby win.”