Hailmary said:
Also noticed that Anttaj Hawethorne was cut by the Raiders.
What happened to this kid? Heading into the start of the last college season, he was being talked about as a sure fire first rounder. Come draft time, he slips all the way to 6th and now he doesn't even make the Raiders' squad.
Not suggesting we take a flyer on this kid, seeing as how we actually have depth on the DLine for a change...just saying ***?
He tested positive for marijuana at the NFL combine. Has a lot of potential, no doubt some team will take a chance on him.
Raiders rookie is stand-up guy
By Steve Corkran, CONTRA COSTA TIMES
August 11, 2005
NAPA - Raiders defensive tackle
Warren Sapp tested positive for marijuana at the NFL scouting combine in 1995 and watched his stock drop before the NFL draft.
Raiders rookie defensive tackle
Anttaj Hawthorne got nailed for the same thing in February and dropped from a projected second-round selection into the sixth round.
Sapp to this day denies any wrongdoing and calls it a "lie." Hawthorne pleads guilty as charged, though he also plans to use the indiscretion as a motivating tool in making a name for himself in the NFL.
Sapp, 32, has channeled his anger into a tidy 10-year career that has yielded seven Pro Bowl selections and a Super Bowl ring. Hawthorne finds himself where Sapp was 10 years ago.
"It was my fault," Hawthorne said Wednesday. "It was my choice, and I messed up. Nobody did it to me. You have to be a man and take responsibility for what you do. I'm paying for it now."
Hawthorne was one of four players who tested positive for marijuana in February. The league notified all 32 NFL teams by letter. His stock plummeted.
He entered his senior season at Wisconsin as one of the top-rated defensive tackle in the nation. Badgers coach Barry Alvarez calls Hawthorne "the best defensive lineman I ever coached."
However, a dropoff in production in Hawthorne's senior season, as well as a so-so performance at the combine also factored into his going from a potential first-round selection to the 175th player taken overall.
That cost Hawthorne several million dollars. Still, the Raiders thought enough of Hawthorne after interviewing him that they drafted him in the sixth round and gave him a five-year contract that averages $386,000 per season.
He has been doing everything he can on and off the field to show he is a solid citizen and not the person who made a high-profile mistake.
"I've been trying to put that in the past and do things on the field, in the public, in the community, back home, out here, in Wisconsin, so people can really understand the kind of person I am, instead of just, 'He failed a drug test,'" Hawthorne said. "A lot of people might think I'm a drug addict, (like) I need it in my life. I've been working on cleaning my name up."
To that end, Sapp sought out Hawthorne to dispense advice on how best to handle the situation.
"Just being able to have someone to talk to about situations like that is a real bonus for me," Hawthorne said. "I appreciated everything he said to me. The words gave me confidence."
Sapp ought to know. Teams became wary of Sapp's character after he tested positive. He dropped from a sure-fire top-five selection to No. 12. He said he still feels the repercussions.
"I'm always the bad guy," Sapp said. "I've always been the bad guy. But that's OK. I know what I've done in this game, and I know what I do in the one-on-one basis. When I walked in this league, I had the biggest lie ever told on me."
Hawthorne benefits from landing with a team famous for investing in players that other teams deem too risky or of questionable character.
Raiders managing general partner Al Davis said as much Saturday, when he backed up wide receiver Randy Moss' statement that everything's fine, as long as we're winning.
"It has worked out great," Hawthorne said. "I've got a team that accepts me, it's allowing me to put my past behind me, and it's allowing me to move on with the rest of my life."
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=knight-_WWW_SPRT_12356112&prov=knight&type=lgns