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All around Cleveland, fans are upset with the Cleveland Browns not taking Tyrann Mathieu in the third round of the NFL Draft. The Browns decided to go with Leon McFadden instead. Cleveland fully made the correct choice in passing on the often-troubled Mathieu.
Why, you ask?
Well for one, Mathieu flunked a total of ten drug tests. Before the draft, the “Honey Badger” was scheduled for interviews with the Houston Texans and Seattle Seahawks. Guess who failed to show for both interviews? The day of the draft, Mathieu was scheduled to appear at a nightclub for a draft watch party. In the end, he canceled at the last minute, but it was still poor judgement on his part.
Finally, when NFL Network interviewed Mathieu, he appeared off and disoriented. He could have been fine; this is my own opinion. The Browns, themselves, have had a handful of troubled college players. Josh Gordon, Phil Taylor, and Greg Little are angels compared to Mathieu’s stupidity and accountability.
There is a time when a player’s athleticism and skills can be out weighed by off the field issues. This is one of those times. A player can fail one, two, maybe even three tests like Gordon did, but ten is unacceptable. How much does a player really care about playing football for a living when they constantly get in trouble off the field? In my book, Mathieu ranks right up there with Adam “Pacman” Jones, possibly worse. The kid simply cannot be taken seriously.
Cleveland made the right choice passing up Mathieu and letting the Arizona Cardinals waste a pick. Not even his former teammate, Patrick Peterson can save this kid. In the NFL, history shows once a troubled kid is given a ton of money, bad things can happen.
Ryan Ruiz is a Cleveland Browns Writer for Rant Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @ryanpruiz24.
