I hear a lot of people say the Bengals need to have a plan for Joe Mixon, the Oklahoma running back they drafted with the 48th pick overall, the guy who broke a woman’s jaw during his college days.
This supposed Mixon Plan involves getting him out into the community to talk about the evils of domestic violence.
If the Bengals do that, will anyone believe Mixon is doing it because he wants to, not because he has to?
By the same logic, do the Bengals plan to get Adam Jones out in the community to speak at the Policeman's Ball? Would that make you feel better about Pacman telling a cop, “I hope you die,” after he was arrested after causing a disturbance at a downtown Cincinnati hotel.
No one would buy Pacman Jones raising money for law enforcement, so why make Mixon engage in the dog and pony show of speaking out against domestic violence?
The Bengals don't have a plan for Andy Dalton, or A.J. Green, or Tyler Eifert, or any of their other guys who are good in the community. Those guys do what they do on their own. So, if Joe Mixon wants to do that, with no PR guy in tow, great.
And if he doesn't. Let him be a football player and do whatever he wants. Mixon keeps saying what he did is not a representation of who he really is.
Give him a chance to prove it. Keep team representatives away from him and let us see what he does out from under the Bengals thumb.
If he stays off the police blotter, maybe we'll start to believe he’s really changed and isn’t a monster.
Then he will have earned our trust, which will be a lot more genuine and lot more lasting than anything the Bengals can conjure up with some public relations strategy.
Mike Tirico is calling the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. He joined the Dan Patrick Show for a preview.
Here's the plan for the Browns at quarterback. Subject to change, of course.
For a guy who once did not want to play school, things appear to be ending well.