RB Prospect Joe Mixon Putting Baggage Behind Him

Joe Mixon had plenty of baggage when it became known he was entering the NFL. But with the way he has handled it, he appears to be putting it behind him.

Former Oklahoma RB Joe Mixon went into this offseason with a lot to overcome. He had the incident where he inexplicably knocked out a female student at a campus diner. Most outside of Oklahoma didn’t know about it until he put his name in the draft this offseason.

Incidents of that nature usually keep NFL teams from wanting to come near you. Six of the 32 NFL teams are already rumored not to have him on their boards at all. It can be an PR nightmare and the NFL is a business that wants to make as much money as possible.

But Mixon seems to have handle everything well throughout the offseason, including the video. It was Mixon’s camp that had the video released to the public shortly after he entered the draft. And his name was drug through the mud, making it look like he was undraftable.

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But the move was a good one because he got a chance to get out in front of it. The worst thing that could have happened was for someone else to put that video out right before the draft. Team executives had a chance to do their research on him and cut into him with questions.

And right before the draft, he makes the ultimate move to put the the whole thing behind him. He met with the victim, Amelia Molitor, to make a settlement with her out of court. Most importantly, she was convinced that Mixon was truly sorry about the incident.

When the victim speaks in forgiveness, the public usually follows.

Molitor said in a statement per NFL.com:

"“I am happy we were able to bring the lawsuit to an end. Joe and I were able to meet privately, without any attorneys, and talk about our experiences since that night. I am encouraged that we will both be able to move forward from here with our lives.“From our private discussions I am satisfied that we are going to put this behind us and work towards helping others who may have found themselves in similar circumstances. I greatly appreciate his apology and I think the feelings he expressed were sincere.”"

Mixon handled everything right from a tactical perspective but his sincerity was the key He met with a lot of NFL teams including the Oakland Raiders, who actually came away impressed by him. His form of restitution and the victim’s satisfaction bodes well for him too.

Mixon has put this thing behind him and will go early in the 2017 NFL Draft.

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