Big blocker, huge baggage
Dolphins welcome Tunsil, a tackle who walked on wild slide
davie, fla.» Laremy Tunsil kept repeating the same answer to questions about his free-fall in the NFL draft, the social media hacking that cost him millions of dollars and the investigation he stirred at Ole Miss.
“I’m just here to talk about the Miami Dolphins,” Tunsil said several times Friday.
At his introductory news conference with the Dolphins, the mammoth offensive tackle tried to tamp down the furor surrounding his slide to the 13th pick in the draft.
Touted at one time as a potential No. 1 overall choice, the former Ole Miss star fell into Miami’s lap after a video was posted on his Twitter account shortly before the draft showing him smoking from a gas mask connected to a bong.
Another post on his Instagram showed an alleged text exchange with an Ole Miss football staff member that included Tunsil’s request for money. The SEC school said it will investigate.
Tunsil said Thursday both accounts had been hacked — a cyberattack likely costing him more than $10 million. He declined to elaborate Friday.
“I don’t know nothing about that,” he said.
Tunsil hinted only once at any bitterness regarding what had transpired, while saying he felt blessed to join the Dolphins.
“They gave me a chance,” he said. “I’m going to show them why I’m the best player — I should be — in the draft.”
The tale took another strange twist when the news conference started more than an hour late because Tunsil suffered an allergic reaction while at Dolphins headquarters. He said it had happened before and probably resulted from something he ate. “The doctor took care of me, so I’m good,” he said.
First-year Dolphins coach Adam Gase called the selection of Tunsil “a no-brainer.”
And executive vice president Mike Tannenbaum called Tunsil’s arrival “a great moment for our organization.”