Breaking: Mallett Rumored to Have Problems With Drugs, Leadership
And boom goes the dynamite
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/
Murmurs have been going on and enough had been passed around before he even transferred that he had issues. None of it was citeable and the only things that could be pointed to were his blowups with players, etc. His recreation could be attributed to being young and a college kid, etc. It has been alluded to that teams had cooled significantly on Mallett in the past 6-8 months as stories from campus began leaking through whispers. Now a major news source is running with it.
On Sunday, Rob Rang of CBSSports.com reported that Mallett will be asked at the Scouting Combine about “so-called lack of leadership and reports of illegal drug use.”
Now, former Rams and Panthers exec Tony Softli, who now works for 101espn.com in St. Louis, has echoed Rang’s report.
“Heavy rumors of drug use and possible addiction kept [Mallett] from coming out for the 2010 draft,” Softli writes.
Again, no one is saying that Mallett has used drugs. But it’s safe to say that he’ll be grilled about it at the Scouting Combine, and that teams will try hard in their allotted 15 minutes to get past the scripted and rehearsed responses he’ll be ready to recite with name, rank, and serial number consistency.
That he was being compared to Ryan Leaf means he could receive a Draft kiss of death and fall to 3rd or 4th round if enough people are gun shy. Hell, this makes all of the questionable things tied to Newton look like childsplay as a) eligibility isn't an issue in the NFL and b) he showed leadership and maturity in overcoming the media storm during a championship run.
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:33 PM ^
It depends. If the kid has a bit of fondess for the green then, you know, maybe that can be worked with. If the kid's into meth or something there's, um, a pretty serious issue.
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:43 PM ^
it's a fondness for other stuff
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:51 PM ^
it's coke.
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:43 PM ^
What the hell is it with Arkansas quarterbacks and cocaine? Matt Jones and now Mallet.
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:08 PM ^
What else is there to do in Arkansas?
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:34 PM ^
I know they were pretty close when he was in school here
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:51 PM ^
We're just here doin the Ryan Mallet Shuffle
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:17 PM ^
Can we also count Mitch Mustain?
February 23rd, 2011 at 7:20 AM ^
Not likely.
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:37 PM ^
are the NFL owners and general managers who are considering signing him to a contract, to lead their football teams, to be the public face of a franchise worth hundreds of millions of dollars and oh yes pay Mallet himself several million dollars.
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:32 PM ^
A draft day freefall, a tough coach giving him a good screaming at, and an absolute rocket of an arm could make him a success.
Somehow I doubt it though.
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:33 PM ^
Its kind of comical, actually. A kid like Mallett gets black-listed at draft time for allegedly using (and becoming addicted to?) drugs by the assessers of NFL talent. Meanwhile, existing NFL guys like Braylon (and many, many others) get arrested for DUI and get their hearings postponed because they interfere with playoff games. I'm not saying Mallett's stock should not drop, I'm just saying that the hypocracy in the NFL talent assessment is comical.
Disclaimer: I do not condone drug use.
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:34 PM ^
going the extra length to condone drug use.
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:52 PM ^
Dammit!
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:03 PM ^
I guess I missed the part where Ryan Mallett has been "black-listed." Can you provide a link?
My interpretation is that teams are concerned about his drug use and perhaps, rather than using a 1st round pick and committing a hundred million dollars to him, might want to take him with a later pick and commit only tens of million dollars to him.
Also, I'm pretty sure that most jobs would reschedule disciplinary meetings around big events. If you're a company's best salesman and you're about to give a pitch to a potentially huge customer, the company would probably let you give the sales pitch...and then meet with you afterward. And it's rare that an event gets much bigger than a playoff game, which pulls in millions of dollars for the team and the league.
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:36 PM ^
The use of the phrase "black-listed" was utilized as a description of his drop in draft status (from an otherwise 1st rounder to 3rd-4th round). I think that was an obvious assumption to be drawn from my use of the phrase. Maybe not as obvious as I thought . . . For the link supporting the use of the phrase, see the OT.
Again, you mis-interpreted my post. I never once said his "fall from grace" (better for you than use of "black-listed"?) was an inappropriate punishment for Mallett. I'm not so naiive to believe that money does not play into the decision to allow criminal suspects/convicts to play when they should otherwise be penalized. I simply made the point that it was hypocritical for Mallett to lose out on millions due to drop in draft status (justified or otherwise) while existing pros with recent criminal charges/convictions are allowed to participate in playoff games simply for monetary reasons. See the difference? I think the difference is pretty glaring . . .
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:39 PM ^
Maybe you should choose the right word if you want to get your point across. That's what language is for.
It's not hypocritical for existing pros with recent criminal charges/convictions to be allowed to play in playoff games while amateurs suffer from lower draft status. They're completely different situations. One is an established professional whose discipline (or lack thereof) is being handed down by league adminstration. The other is an amateur who is hopeful of entering the NFL, and whose "discipline" is a potential loss of earnings decided upon by individual employers who are looking to hire him or someone like him.
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:00 PM ^
I did not realize that you are such a cunning linguist. Regardless, my use of the phrase "black-listed" was entirely appropriate. From Mirriam-Websters dictionary:
"black-list : a list of persons who are disapproved of or are to be punished or boycotted"
I think it is safely stated that Mallett is being met with disapproval and being punished. No?
With respect to the substance of the discussion, we appear to be focusing on different aspects? Both scenarios entail a serious character issue. However, one scenario is more "acceptable" or at least overlooked while the other is not. In my assessment, secondary factors/considerations like whether an individual is a proven "asset" or not are immaterial. Hypocritical is hypocritical. There will always be excuses to justify softer treatment (first-time offender, important player on team, etc.). Justification simply muddies the water, making it more difficult to identify the hypocricy.
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:28 PM ^
Are you saying that because players can get a DUI and still play that teams should just ignore the drug problems of possible future employees?
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:33 PM ^
Obviously not. We're talking about punishment for transgressions. I submitted that if Mallett is being punished for his transgressions (rightfully so, in my opinion) then existing players should be held to the same standard. Not doing so is hypocritical, even if its "justified" by the powers that be.
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:23 PM ^
Teams are being consistent in pursuing their self-interests. Suspending or releasing productive players can hurt the team's performance. So can using their first round pick on a player with serious character issues.
Mallett isn't being punished. Teams aren't taking some sort of moral stand on him that they aren't with their own players. They may be downgrading his value as they see more risk that he won't reach his potential. He'll still get a chance to play and will likely get picked right around where a team thinks he's a good value, just like everyone else in the draft.
Do NFL teams take character, drug problems, etc. into consideration when pursuing free agents or resigning players? If they didn't that's what would be hypocritical.
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:37 PM ^
Dude if you fail a drug test when you get hired at a job, you will be fired. From the sound of things Mallet is about to fail his drug test. If you get a DUI, you aren't going to get fired from work or even suspended. So the fact that the NFL will suspend players makes them stricter than normal. Mallet getting drafted at all is much more lenient than i would when applying for a job.
February 23rd, 2011 at 8:50 AM ^
I don't think I saw anyone in this whole conversation suggest that the NFL's practice of hiring or firing people was the model society should adopt. Did someone and I just missed?
The point is whether or not turning a blind eye to (star employees) employees with drug issues could be deemed hypocritical when they cite that as being a major factor in a soon to be employees draft stock falling.
I usually find myslef on the same side as the poster who said it was hypocritical, but in this case I disagree somewhat. I agree that the NFL in many ways is hypocritical but in this case they are looking at a prospect before hiring him and using risky behavior (drug use) as a part of the evaluation. What they are trying to do at this point is determine whether this guy will be a productive emoployee over the term of his contract and that would definitely factor into it.
The reason it is different for current players is because they have already proven their worth. If they have shown that they can play at a certain level while using drugs, that is all their team cares about and therefore they would be given a lot of leeway.
I guess what I am saying is I don't think this is being used as a moral issue. His stock isn't dropping because he uses drugs, it is dropping because he hasn't shown the ability to perform while using drugs over time.
If they teams came out and said "We don't want Ryan Mallet because he uses drugs and we don't condone that" while allowing other players to use drugs and never do anything about it, that would be hypocritical. I don't think that is what is going on here though. They are trying to look into the future and determine whether his drug use will negatively impact his performance over time.
To conclude, no one said society should adopt the NFL's policies on hiring, firing and discipline nor suggest that they should be looked to as some sort of moral compass.
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:55 PM ^
Profit,
I think teams aren't seeking to "punish" Mallet by picking him lower; I think it is instead that they are concerned that a drug addict will be unable to deal with the pressures and temptations of being a franchise quarterback for an NFL team.
Braylon and other athletes may drink (perfectly legal) and even sometimes abuse alcohol or drive while intoxicated, but those events aren't a red flag to the same degree as someone abusing hard drugs. Now if Braylon was drinking to the point of liver failure, then yes,I think we can both agree that would be an issue raised at contract time.
Bottom line? Mallet's draft plunge is not a moral sanction for immoral conduct, it's a cautionary move driven by concern ballclubs' financial health.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:49 PM ^
"Hypocrisy" spelled correctly!
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:44 PM ^
How has this not been posted yet:
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:46 PM ^
that's uncanny
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:12 PM ^
happen if Mallett was high, eating Dougnuts, twinkie's, HO-HO's, King Dong's, etc,.. while high and crashed his scooter??
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:34 PM ^
A 1 MPH crash probably wouldn't hurt him that much, unless he flew over the handlebars into a deep gorge a la Wile E. Coyote cartoons.
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:13 PM ^
reports of Mallet using hard drugs while at M? I only remember hearing about disciplinary issues, arrogance and a party-hard lifestyle, but that's a far cry from addiction to hard drugs.
Did he develop this alleged habit at Arkansas, or were there rumblings of this even while he was at Michigan?
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:26 PM ^
Those damn Rich Rod recruits, always were into drugs and the like.
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What's that you say?
Oh. Lloyd Carr. Oh, right.
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:04 PM ^
......and during the first game, he can start telling the coach that he will only take orders from Frank Broyles via Twitter and an invisible razorback hog named "Petrino". Clearly, we can say he is on drugs then.
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:47 PM ^
I definitly saw Mallet out a bunch when I was in undergrad and had the "privledge" of being at a few date parties that he was at as well. I obviously never saw him do drugs or anything like that but the 2 parties i was at with him he was messed up. One time I saw him passed out on a table at a country club.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:59 PM ^
If you haven't found yourself passed out on a country club table at least once during your 4+ years in college, you simply have not lived.
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:02 PM ^
Secound Round
Detroit Lions
February 22nd, 2011 at 8:46 PM ^
Yeah I was about to say that if that is the basis for coke addiction then the standard for having a problem has gone WAY down since I graduated.
I
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:22 PM ^
Hope it was good news!
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:01 PM ^
It was very good news MFan....thank you so much for asking. All my key markers were either down or within normal ranges. My oncologist said I can wait over a year for my next battery of tests.
When i see the news on Vada on the front page I get sad for him and his family. I know I'm one of the lucky ones.
February 23rd, 2011 at 8:57 AM ^
but a heart felt congratulations to you my fellow fan. You and your family must be over the moon. I hope all continues to go well for you.
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:12 PM ^
I was sort of bummed when he split, but now I am thinking we dodged a bullet.
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:21 PM ^
Never liked him. 44% completions at Michigan. He stunk.
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:26 PM ^
Sweet Jesus, have some perspective. He was a true freshman thrust into the starting role due to a senior's injury. Of course he was going to struggle. He's been lighting it up at Arkansas for the past two seasons because he was a redshirt sophomore and a redshirt junior in those seasons.
I never liked him, either, but he didn't stink.
February 23rd, 2011 at 8:00 AM ^
That stinks. He stunk.
February 24th, 2011 at 12:25 PM ^
Exactly. Give the kid some credit. With Henne missing much of the season, '07 could have been a disaster.
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:23 PM ^
February 23rd, 2011 at 1:45 AM ^
Maybe he will drop to the 6th round, number 199th pick. That seem to work out for former Michigan Quarterbacks.