Top pick Conley denies any guilt

It’s an awkward start to an NFL career — and that word may not do it justice and is not meant to be insensitive.

Gareon Conley flew to the Raiders’ facility Friday, a day after he was the team’s first pick in the NFL draft and three days before he goes to Cleveland to talk to police about rape allegations against him.

Oakland general manager Reggie McKenzie said he is as certain as he can be, based on the team’s investigation, that Conley will be cleared, or else he wouldn’t have selected the cornerback 24th overall.

Still, there is an alleged victim. And there is an ongoing police investigation hanging over Conley’s head, even as he tried on his helmet and

later smiled for the cameras Friday afternoon.

The sun shone through the clouds for Conley on Thursday night as the Raiders picked him to cap an unusual night that saw him drive two hours to take a polygraph test for another team.

“It’s been a really, really emotional week,” said Conley, who said he has video evidence and witnesses that prove his innocence. “But I kept my faith and kept my head up. My family told me to stay strong, the Raiders did their research, and they were confident in their research.”

Conley admits that he had some doubt that he would get picked in the first round, believing that the allegations might scare teams off.

“Getting picked by the Raiders, with all the doubt and my family keeping faith, made it 10 times more special,” Conley said. “I was shocked when I got the call, and it felt unreal for a few minutes. … It still feels unreal . ...

“I even had some thoughts every now and then that I wasn’t going to get drafted at all.”

Conley missed the first half hour of the draft as he drove from Columbus, Ohio, to Akron, Ohio, to take a lie-detector test. Conley says he passed, and his agent emailed the results to numerous teams, according to Sports Illustrated.

Conley said 24 teams called him in the past couple of days, and the allegations appeared to have cost him five to 10 draft spots from where he had been projected to go.

“I made sure the teams got the message,” Conley said. “I told them my story and that I was innocent. Then I hoped for the best.”

Besides talking to the police Monday, Conley plans to give a DNA sample.

According to the police report, the 23-year-old woman claims she met Conley in an elevator at the Westin hotel in Cleveland on April 9. She said Conley grabbed her, ripped her pants off and raped her, then kicked her out of his hotel room after she declined to have a foursome, according to the report.

Two of Conley’s friends were in the room and, in statements to police, said nothing happened between Conley and the woman. They said she became upset after they asked her to leave.

A surveillance video obtained by TMZ shows the woman earlier that night following him inside and outside the hotel bar, reaching out to touch him at one point.

Her attorney, Patrick Thomas, said the woman is hoping for criminal charges.