Tunsil situation a social media lesson for all
CHICAGO — An assistant for Jimmy Sexton, the most powerful agent in football, stood face-toface with a client, Laremy Tunsil, the 6-5, 310-pound offensive lineman from the University of Mississippi, in a crowded media room in the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University on Thursday night.
Tunsil had just been selected by the Miami Dolphins with the 13th pick in the first round of the NFL draft. But he was also suddenly at the center of one of the biggest calamities in draft history. Sexton’s assistant, Amy Milam, prepped him for the onslaught he was about to experience. Sweat was pouring off his brow as soon as reporters and microphones pressed against him and began lobbing questions.
After a couple of minutes of questioning, Milam, maybe a foot shorter than her client, quickly barged forward, declared the interview over and pushed Tunsil to the door like a wounded president ducking for cover.
The NFL draft, the league’s glitziest showpiece after the Super Bowl, has long derived cringe-worthy drama from a highly touted player being passed over. The farther his stock falls on draft night, with millions of TV viewers watching, the greater the spectacle.
But what happened here Thursday night was an areyou-watching-this? misadventure for the league akin to Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” in the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show in Houston — but in the social media age.
And this time, the wardrobe involved a bong attached to a gas mask.
Minutes before the draft began, a video of Tunsil had been posted on his Twitter account showing him wearing the gas mask and seemingly smoking marijuana through the bong. The draft turned dark and chaotic when Tunsil, the most coveted offensive lineman in the country, was deemed persona non grata by several teams.
The video, and Tunsil’s Twitter account, kingtunsil78, were quickly deleted. Later, the account was restored and Tunsil posted an apology. Several other Twitter users managed to grab the video before it was taken down.
His account had been hacked, he said. But by the time he had the chance to explain, he had fallen very far, very fast. The No. 3 pick in the draft — where many experts believed Tunsil would be chosen — is projected to receive a contract worth more than $25 million. The deal for a No. 13 pick will be about $12 million.
After he was drafted, Tunsil was asked who might have tampered with his Twitter account, and how many people knew his passwords. Only he knew his password, Tunsil said, and he did not know how his account had been breached.
Then he was asked about a text-message conversation that was published on his Instagram account around the time that he was selected by the Dol- phins. The exchange seemingly was between Tunsil and an athletics official at Mississippi in which Tunsil asked for help paying bills, a violation of NCAA rules. When pressed about whether he received money from his college coach, he mumbled, “I’d have to say, yeah.”
Milam wanted to keep Tunsil away from reporters, but an NFL employee told her that it would look bad, so Tunsil was ushered into a nearby room, trailed by more reporters, to answer more questions.
Milam stepped in to interrupt that session, as well, whisking Tunsil away for good when the question of payments from his college coach surfaced again.
His comments prompted the university to issue a statement Friday saying it is “aware of the reports from the NFL draft regarding Laremy Tunsil and potential NCAA violations during his time at Ole Miss” and “will aggressively investigate and fully cooperate with the NCAA and the SEC.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.