Mixon gets rough reception
Booed when taken 48th by Bengals; McKinley impresses Falcons
It’s Philly, so of course they booed.
Roger Goodell heard it. Cincinnati’s selection of Oklahoma and former Freedom High-Oakley running back Joe Mixon intensified it.
And Drew Pearson incited the fans at the NFL draft Friday night by lauding — and lauding and lauding — the hated Dallas Cowboys.
Not everything got jeered on the second day of the grab bag. The most popular group in the second round came from nearly 3,000 miles away from Philadelphia: the Washington Huskies secondary.
Three members — cornerbacks Kevin King and Sidney Jones, safety Budda Baker — were taken in the first 11 picks Friday night.
None of those choices drew the attention that Cincinnati’s pick at No. 48 overall did: Mixon, who was uninvited to the scouting combine because he was videotaped punching a woman in the face, breaking bones.
He punched Amelia Molitor during an altercation at a restaurant, and was suspended from the team for a year. He came back and had two strong seasons. In 2016, he was an All-Big 12 performer who set the school record for all-purpose yardage in a season.
Fans in the draft theater booed lustily when Bengals Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz announced the choice. Cincinnati has a history of bringing players with offfield problems to the roster.
“For some of our fans, probably (they’ll) pause for a second,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. “But this thing’s got to move forward, and he’s got to move on. He’s lived with this since the day it’s occurred.”
Another running back who dropped to Round 2 was Florida State AllAmerican Dalvin Cook. He slipped from the first round because of off-field issues and some injury concerns. Cook is a big-play guy and the Vikings, of course, let go of Adrian Peterson this year.
“You’ve got to accept things as a man, and I just was waiting my turn,” Cook said.
Falcons: UCLA defensive end Takkarist McKinley is held in high esteem by his new team. Atlanta chose McKinley — a Richmond product who played at John F. Kennedy High — in the first round after sending third- and seventh-round picks to Seattle. General manager Thomas Dimitroff and coach Dan Quinn were won over by McKinley’s hustle, especially when chasing quarterbacks. Quinn said he likes “the grit that he has displayed, not only as a ballplayer but as a young man coming up.”
McKinley still carried the large framed photo of his late grandmother, Myrtle Collins, at the Falcons complex that he took with him to the stage of the NFL draft on Thursday night. “I never knew my father at all,” he said. “My mom left my life when I was about 5 years old, did drugs and stuff like that. I was raised with my grandmother. She basically paid the bills by collecting water bottles and cans. Those were worth like 5 or 10 cents. That’s a lot of bottles and cans to collect.
“My job as a kid was just bringing in bottles. I didn’t know how big it was. I didn’t realize I was keeping a roof over our heads.”
McKinley said his grandmother died about 30 seconds after he made a promise to her he would play Division I football and in the NFL. McKinley was emotional at the draft as he held the photo and talked about his grandmother. Some of those emotions were expressed with expletives.
“That was just pure relief, my emotions,” McKinley said. “I’ve been through a lot in my life and like I said that promise to me means everything, just to be able to complete it.”
When listing family members with him at the Falcons’ facility, McKinley said “my grandmother is here in spirit and I brought her with me.”
Broncos: Baby Bolles has become a star of the 2017 NFL draft. After answering John Elway’s call Thursday night as the 20th overall pick of the draft, Garett Bolles, the 6-foot-5, 300-pound tackle from Utah, grabbed his 4-month-old son Kingston and carried him on stage. He alternately cradled him like a football and held him high like Mufasa introducing Simba. “My first thought was, ‘Don’t drop him. Going down the stairs, don’t trip,’” Bolles’ wife, Natalie, said at her husband’s news conference.
Browns: Myles Garrett discussed his deep interest in poetry and dinosaurs before shifting to another of his favorite activities. It’s not sailing. “I love to hit,” said the No. 1 overall NFL draft pick, drawing a smile from Jabrill Peppers, who was seated to his left as Cleveland introduced its new players. “I love to hit and I love to compete. So those two things combined, that’s why me and him are sitting by each other.” The Browns might be done getting bullied.