Gareon Conley, Raiders new draft pick, comes with baggage.
Raiders keeping the faith
ALAMEDA — Gareon Conley looks you in the eye when he answers your question about what he has learned over the last few weeks. “To keep the faith,” he says. “Have a tight support system. And never lose your faith.”
And that is all.
Conley, after arriving at Raiders headquarters on Friday, utters no more words about the April 9 incident that shook up his NFL draft prospects. A woman has accused him of raping her at a Cleveland hotel that night. A police investigation is still proceeding.
The Raiders decided to draft Conley anyway with the 24th overall pick of the first round because at Ohio State, he was a great cornerback who helped the Buckeyes win a national championship and a bunch of other games.
Reggie McKenzie, the Raiders’ general manager, says the
team has done its own inquiry into the hotel episode and is comfortable that Conley will be cleared.
“We addressed the issue last night,” McKenzie tells reporters at Conley’s first media availability as a Raider. “Let’s just talk football with Garreon, all right?”
McKenzie certainly had the right to make that request. It doesn’t mean reporters had to comply.
Because one of us — OK, me — wanted to ask Conley that question, the one about what Conley had taken away from the past month’s events off the field. Would he fall back on McKenzie’s words and decline comment? No. Conley gave the direct-eye answer about faith and his support system.
So that provides a little insight. Not much. But some. Conley realizes that April 9 will be part of his resume until it is not. And until it is not, he will definitely have to answer these questions.
But so will the Raiders if they turn out to be wrong about the police investigation.
In 2015, owner Mark Davis announced “an organizational effort to prevent domestic violence and sexual assault” by forging a partnership with the Fred Biletnikoff Foundation. The Raiders’ Hall of Fame receiver adopted that cause after his daughter, Tracey, was murdered by a stalker and sexual predator.
That loud and firm stand by Davis is why Conley’s selection raised so many Bay Area eyebrows. It is why, no matter what the Raiders say, they will hold their breaths and hope they’re right about Conley.
McKenzie seems to imply that the April 9 matter will be settled as soon as next week, with Conley facing no charges.
“I don’t want to get into all the details about who we talked to, all of that stuff,” McKenzie said after drafting Conley. “But the bottom line is we’ve done miles and miles of research to make sure we were totally comfortable with our decision, which we were.”
In the meantime, anyone can check the police report. Cleveland cops say that Conley and a 23-year-old woman were riding an elevator at approximately 3 a.m. inside the Westin Hotel. She then followed Conley to a suite.
On that, all agree. After that, versions diverge.
The woman told police that when she and Conley entered the suite, Conley asked if she wished to have sex with another couple that was already in the bathroom. The woman told Conley she only wanted to watch and not have sex with anyone, including him. The report then says she and Conley walked into the bathroom before he assaulted her sexually and asked her to leave the room.
Police also say they interviewed two witnesses who were in the suite — presumably, the bathroom couple — disagreed with the woman’s description of events. One witness said Conley “never touched” the woman. The other witness said the woman and Conley were “on the bed together, but nothing happened.”
Except that even if nothing happened, something happened. Here is what happened: Conley, knowing that he was just weeks away from being in position to make millions of dollars as a projected first-round pick, decided to get off an elevator at 3 a.m. with a woman he evidently didn’t know — although video evidence has surfaced that they might have interacted earlier in the evening — and take her to the hotel room.
“Like I said in my statement, I could have made way better judgment,” Conley said Thursday in his conference call after being drafted, referencing a statement he had issued about the situation. “I mean, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into — but I definitely could have made a better decision.”
Whatever turns out to be true, you’d think Conley’s admitted bad judgment would be enough to give the Raiders pause. It wasn’t. Teams in the NFL have money to hire investigators and have contacts in law enforcement everywhere. So it’s not inconceivable that the Raiders do possess information that the rest of us don’t.
It is true that cases like this can melt away.
Three years ago, 49ers’ quarterback Colin Kaepernick was under scrutiny for a Miami hotel incident when a woman accused him of taking advantage of her in his room. Police investigated and found no evidence to back her up, so no charges were filed. But the hunch is, after that incident, Kaepernick was much more careful about his off-field life. If Conley is not after this, shame on him.
And remember, his situation is still in flux. This could get a lot worse if the Raiders are wrong and Conley must face prosecution. What would the Raiders do then?
It proves once more that in the year 2017, the most valuable pre-draft person in any NFL organization is the hold-your-breath-and-hopeyou’re-right assessor.
The 49ers find themselves in the same situation this time, on a lesser scale.
One of their first round picks, linebacker Reuben Foster of Alabama, has been put on notice by the league because of a diluted drug testing sample that raised suspicions. On Friday in Santa Clara, a reporter noted that Foster’s draft-night party in Miami was sponsored by a company that makes vaporizers for tobacco and marijuana, then asked Foster why.
“This is a new leaf and I’m not answering that,” Foster replied. “I’m not answering that. I’m sorry. Next question.”
Someone needs to tell him that in the NFL, the questions are just beginning.