ChiefsPlanet - NFL Draft (another) Earlier assault allegation against Joe Mixon

Joe Mixon HS Assault Allegation Recanted Amid NFL Teams' Reported Investigation
ALEC NATHAN
APRIL 19, 2017

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 02: Joe Mixon #25 of the Oklahoma Sooners reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Auburn Tigers during the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 2, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

A pair of NFL teams are reportedly looking into a since-recanted allegation that former Oklahoma Sooners running back Joe Mixon assaulted a girl when he was in high school, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

That report comes on the heels of comments from NFL.com's Gil Brandt, who appeared on PFT Live Wednesday and said he would stray from selecting Mixon if he was heading up a team's personnel department.

"I just wouldn’t draft him," Brandt said, according to Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith. "His problems started back in high school."

Howard Eskin of 94 WIP in Philadelphia reported he's heard Mixon is off the Eagles' draft board amid the investigation.

In a video released by the Norman, Oklahoma, Police Department in February as part of the investigation into Mixon punching Amelia Molitor in a local sandwich shop, the Dallas Morning News' Brady Vardeman noted the lawyer for Molitor "reads from a report from a man named Anthony Hernandez, who alleged Mixon punched another girl in high school and got away with it."

"I know for a fact he threw my daughter to the ground and hit her," Hernandez said in the report. "I went to the school and ... they hid him in the office. He got no punishment. The police even came. I was escorted off the campus as if I did something wrong. These are simply the facts, he's a woman beater."

It was also noted Mixon denied that allegation.

After Rapoport's report, Hernandez's lawyer Blake Johnson gave Florio a statement from his client in which he said in part: "I do not believe Joe ever did anything to hurt my daughter."

Quote:

Hernandez's statement also gave more context to the incident:

Once, when they were in school together, my daughter had a minor disagreement with some of her classmates that got blown out of proportion. Like any father would, I reacted emotionally. Unfortunately, I did so before I had all the facts. Now, having talked to my daughter and investigated the whole story, I realize that I was mistaken about Joe’s involvement. I definitely overreacted, and I regret that my words might have given some people the wrong impression about Joe. I know that Joe did not hurt my daughter, did not intend to, and would not do so.

Mixon was previously charged with a misdemeanor and placed on probation after he punched Molitor in July 2014, breaking her jaw and cheekbone.

Video of the incident was released to the public in December, and Mixon made a public apology shortly thereafter.

"It’s all on me the reason why we're in this position right now," he said, according to the Associated Press (via USA Today). "I take full responsibility of what happened that night. It's never OK to hit a woman. Never. I will preach to anybody. It's never OK. Hopefully to people around the world will learn from my mistake. I'm willing to teach."

In a video that was released by the Norman, Oklahoma, Police Department in February, Molitor said Mixon assaulted her after she refused sexual advances made by Mixon and his friends.

According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, multiple league sources believe Mixon could slide into Round 2 or 3 of next week's NFL draft, while a separate source suggested he could go undrafted.