From PFT: Running back Mark Walton lost his job with the Bengals in the wake of his third arrest of the offseason, but the legal trouble isn’t stopping another team from taking a look at him. As pointed out by multiple reporters on Friday, Walton is trying out for the Dolphins at their rookie minicamp this weekend. Walton was waived by the Bengals last month after a March arrest that resulted in charges of carrying a concealed weapon, marijuana possession and reckless driving. He was charged with battery in February and arrested for marijuana possession in January. Walton faces potential league discipline for all of those infractions and that can be enacted whether or not he is on a roster this season. ME - WHY???????
Well, the why is that he just turned 22, was highly productive in college, was drafted in the 4th round last season, is from Miami, and played at Miami. He would also be no better than the third RB on the depth chart. His actions show immaturity, stupidity, and a choice to not give up smoking pot. I wouldn't have drafted him had he been in this past one with all of that history. However, given that his arrests don't involve violence against women or guns, I'm willing to see if he can work things out as a minimum salary backup with a big upside. This isn't a player we'd be making the focus of the offense from day one.
Battery and carrying a concealed weapon. 2 of 3 (we don't know if the battery was a woman so I'm giving him the free pass). I thought we were going to change the culture and not bring these jackarses in.
I missed the gun in the reports that I read. That does change things. I read that he got into a scuffle with a guy over a cell phone and they pushed each other around. I thought that was the worst of it.
Doesn't matter, he wont make the team. He was unimpressive when he got opportunities with Cincinnati. I doubt he beats out Drake, or Ballage, or even Gaskins for that matter.
Gun possession is simply that- you had a gun in your car/house/whatever that you weren't licensed to carry. That DOES NOT mean it's an illegal gun or that you did anything else wrong. For instance, I own a pistol but never got any special permits. So if I were pulled over for speeding and the cops saw the gun in plain view (outside of non-permitted carry laws), then I'd get the same charge. Or he could have walked into a bar/whatever with his gun and caught that charge. Whatever the case though, it's not a huge deal unless we have an additional story saying he went into "x place" with the gun hidden because he had planned on shooting somebody there. And that's just not the story coming out....so don't sweat the gun charge. I'm not worried about the battery charge either- younger folks get into fights until they mature up a little. And the pot charge? It's legal in half the country...that has to stop being such a big deal and it needs to be accepted by the NFL as a safer alternative to opiods (that's an argument for a different day though). That leaves reckless driving....and that could just be a rookie with a fast car going 30 over the limit. So I'm not freaking out about any of this stuff....it's all pretty trivial for a 22 year old athlete. The weed charge is the most severe due to the NFL's stance (and habit of re-testing frequently), but I don't think the kid should be viewed as a problem just because of these things. Bring him in cheap and let him prove the team wrong....or he keeps getting high and we lose nothing when he's suspended. No big deal either way.
I never got caught with an illegally carried gun, or got into fight that the police charged me or got caught with the MJ or was recklessly driving. Or, or, or.....See the pattern. Kids will be kids I guess.
So you never got in a fight, drove a car fast or did any sort of drugs? People say "I never got arrested" like they're perfect angels that get to judge others for the exact same things they did in the past. That's not cool at all. I never went to jail for any of that stuff either but I'm guilty of 3 of the 4 as a teen/young adult. Heck, I never had a gun but cops wanted to arrest one of us for having nunchucks (I threw them in the woods before the cops came up to us)...so I'm "technically" guilty of all 4 things.
RB is a bring talent in, run it to the ground and get it out to find a new guy position. He probably won't make the team but if he does hes just a body and losing him wo t matter even if hes great.
Things were different when I was young. These days you fart the wrong way and you could get dragged down to the station. That’s why I usually go for the SBD, or crop dust someone if I can. ;-)
i like how people freak out over signing a guy for rookie camp. chill he prob won't even make the 90 for preseason just like malik rosier. you need people that qualify for rookie camp, to have a rookie camp.
If you can’t abide by the relatively simple rules of society then how can you expect the discipline needed to be a professional football player. Thanks, but no thanks
HE'S A CAMP BODY THERE ARE 50+ PLAYERS AT THE ROOKIE CAMP LIKE 15 ARE GOING ON THE 90 MAN STOP OVER READING INTO ROOKIE CAMP ROSTERS.
With respect dude, but I hope I am never behind you in a car. I don't break any speed records, but I can't stand being behind drivers who follow the speed limit exactly as it's posted. As for Walton, I can't say whether he will mature or not, but I will say that now that he is home maybe his family will help him realize he has a great opportunity and help him change his ways.
Marijuana possession...smh. I'm glad I live in a state evolved enough that such trivialities are not a crime.
Id be willing to put the house on the fact that more then 99% of hall of fame players have committed a crime at some point in their life.
The idea that people should even have to abide by rules they never agreed to in the first place is ridiculous.
The rules I AGREE with are the only rules that matter. The ones I didn't sign up for well we can just disregard them. Sounds vaguely familiar to someone, what's his name, that tweets a smig? It'll come to me in a sec. LoL.
It's not that the rules dont matter exactly. It's the fact that people need rules in order to not destroy themselves and each other that disturbs me.
The government has shown that the average "criminal" that's arrested for ANY infraction (speeding, selling meth, burglary, whatever) commits that crime an average of 200 times in their life before being caught. But when are you ACTUALLY a criminal? The first time you break the law....or that 200th time (on average) when you actually get caught? Here's a different stat for you. The average American breaks the law 8 times a day. It could be speeding, crossing an intersection where it's not allowed, parking outside the lines, reckless driving (cutting in and out of traffic), not fully stopping at stop signs, etc. And before you say "that's petty stuff"...that petty stuff is how law enforcement takes drugs off the streets in lower class areas. Without the "petty stuff", we wouldn't have a prison population issue. So if the average American breaks 8 laws a day and the average incarcerated individual commits crimes 200 times before being arrested, I think it's pretty safe to say that everyone is technically a criminal. In other words, don't be so quick to judge...worry about your own stuff before casting stones at others.
Thank you. People see "gun" and think the guy's a thug. We don't know the particulars of this, but a lot of us know from experience, including yours truly, that immaturity can be the source of a lot of grief.
No joke...when I was younger I was with a group of friends smoking at the beach in public. Cop walks by, looks at us...and kind of just makes an expression like "Not gonna ruin your night over this...but ugh..." Friends had other things on them and it could easily have been bad for us. Reckless driving is honestly the thing that bothers me here most.