When the Cincinnati Bengals drafted Joe Mixon in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft, a lot of people spoke up. Three years ago, Mixon was involved in an altercation with a woman in a sandwich shop beside the University of Oklahoma campus. After the woman struck Mixon twice while allegedly using racial slurs, Mixon retaliated and punched her in the face, knocking her out, and breaking bones in her face. The Oklahoma Sooners suspended Mixon for a full year and he has been doing everything he can since then to turn his life around.
Cincinnati Bengals speak out on Joe Mixon
Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown published a letter that pledged his support of Joe Mixon after the criticism arose about drafting him in the 2017 NFL Draft. There were a lot of people who spoke out against the draft pick, many believing that people do not deserve second chances in life and should pay for their sins until they die. However, Brown admitted that it is unacceptable for a man to strike a woman but the incident happened three years ago and Mixon already served a punishment and returned for his second chance. Brown pointed out that Mixon has been a good citizen since the incident and has become a better man since the incident.
The Joe Mixon incident
The altercation took place three years ago when Joe Mixon was a fresman with the Oklahoma Sooners. The woman alleges that Mixon had made homophobic comments about a friend of hers. Witnesses at the scene indicate that the woman was intoxicated when she approached Mixon in the sandwich shop and began to insult him with racial slurs.
A camera in the shop recorded the woman striking Joe twice as he tried to walk away and leave. Joe finally turned and punched the woman and left the shop. Neither Mixon nor the woman faced criminal charges but the woman sued Mixon and the two settled out of court. Mixon and the woman recently met up privately and apologized for their actions.
The puniushment for Mixon was a one-year suspension from the University of Oklahoma and a return to the team with a warning that another incident would mean expulsion.
The future for Joe Mixon
With the exception of a runin with a parking cop at the University of Oklahoma that was blown out of proportion, Joe Mixon has been a model citizen since his return to the Oklahoma Sooners. He has started voluntarily working with youth in community programs to help them work through difficult parts of their lives. Mike Brown said that the Cincinnati Bengals drafting Mixon was a sign that they are giving him a chance and he hopes that Joe can turn into an athlete that Cincinnati can be proud of.
