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http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/NFLDraft/Draft+Extras/2007/wwhiextra041807.htm
The Way We Hear It — NFL draft edition
Three potential top-10 draft prospects admit to marijuana use
By Nolan Nawrocki
April 18, 2007
PFW has learned that three potential top-10 picks have admitted to using marijuana. The admissions were recorded during standard interviews at the NFL Scouting Combine administered by the league to every player in attendance and submitted to all 32 teams for review.
Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson, Clemson DE Gaines Adams and Louisville DT Amobi Okoye, according to multiple sources who have watched the interviews, all admitted to using marijuana.
Such admissions are viewed indifferently by many teams’ decision-makers who do not consider marijuana experimentation to be abnormal. In the case of Johnson — who is being considered by the Raiders with the first overall pick — his stock is not expected to be affected at all, given the strength of his character. That he admitted to using the drug, to some teams, is a sign of maturity.
Honesty is highly encouraged in the interviews, and those who are not honest and later proven to have lied are likely to be punished more severely, as LSU’s Claude Wroten was a year ago. Regarded as a top-10 pick entering draft meetings, he wound up sliding to the third round.
For Adams and Okoye, however, there could be more severe ramifications given some questions that exist about the consistency of their play.
“It should scare (teams), especially when you see how laid-back (Adams) is in his play,” one team official said. “No one disputes the great physical ability. What is disputed is how passionate he is and how physical he is. Physically, from an athletic standpoint, he has all the tools. He is the No. 1 pass rusher in the draft, and I don’t think many people would argue with that.”
As for Okoye, scouts have a love-hate relationship with him. Some teams who became aware of his admission in the past month have said they did not think it would affect his draft stock at all. Others have deeper concerns about his work ethic, maturity level and fluctuations in his weight.
Considering NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s hard-line stance on players who run afoul of the law, teams could place a higher premium on character than ever before.
“The commissioner is going to be all over any team that drafts players with borderline character,” another team official said. “You are not going to see a draft like, for instance, Cincinnati’s (in 2006), where they took four criminals in one draft, because the owners are going to start getting fined.”
The Way We Hear It — NFL draft edition
Three potential top-10 draft prospects admit to marijuana use
By Nolan Nawrocki
April 18, 2007
PFW has learned that three potential top-10 picks have admitted to using marijuana. The admissions were recorded during standard interviews at the NFL Scouting Combine administered by the league to every player in attendance and submitted to all 32 teams for review.
Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson, Clemson DE Gaines Adams and Louisville DT Amobi Okoye, according to multiple sources who have watched the interviews, all admitted to using marijuana.
Such admissions are viewed indifferently by many teams’ decision-makers who do not consider marijuana experimentation to be abnormal. In the case of Johnson — who is being considered by the Raiders with the first overall pick — his stock is not expected to be affected at all, given the strength of his character. That he admitted to using the drug, to some teams, is a sign of maturity.
Honesty is highly encouraged in the interviews, and those who are not honest and later proven to have lied are likely to be punished more severely, as LSU’s Claude Wroten was a year ago. Regarded as a top-10 pick entering draft meetings, he wound up sliding to the third round.
For Adams and Okoye, however, there could be more severe ramifications given some questions that exist about the consistency of their play.
“It should scare (teams), especially when you see how laid-back (Adams) is in his play,” one team official said. “No one disputes the great physical ability. What is disputed is how passionate he is and how physical he is. Physically, from an athletic standpoint, he has all the tools. He is the No. 1 pass rusher in the draft, and I don’t think many people would argue with that.”
As for Okoye, scouts have a love-hate relationship with him. Some teams who became aware of his admission in the past month have said they did not think it would affect his draft stock at all. Others have deeper concerns about his work ethic, maturity level and fluctuations in his weight.
Considering NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s hard-line stance on players who run afoul of the law, teams could place a higher premium on character than ever before.
“The commissioner is going to be all over any team that drafts players with borderline character,” another team official said. “You are not going to see a draft like, for instance, Cincinnati’s (in 2006), where they took four criminals in one draft, because the owners are going to start getting fined.”
