(Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

With the 2017 NFL Draft just days away, the controversy surrounding former Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon continues to build.

Draft experts have him likely coming off the board in either the second or third round this year. His talents are regarded as those belonging to a first-rounder, but that was before a video of him punching a woman in the face was released to the public a few months ago.

Recently, Mixon and his victim in the incident agreed on a settlement (the terms of which are unknown) after the young lady sued the running back for numerous accusations which stemmed from his actions that night in July 2014.

Following the settlement agreement, Mixon released a statement regarding his impression of Mike Tyson that fateful night in which he said he has to “keep working to be a better person” and that he “loves working with kids.”

Okay, so everything should be fine now and Mixon can get drafted in the first round with no complaints, right? He did say he loves working with kids, so that should basically erase every bad thing he has ever done.

Not quite.

For the amount of effort the NFL has put into their stance on players who assault females and get arrested for domestic abuse, a team drafting Mixon would be a metaphorical kick in the balls to the league and any progress they have made since Ray Rice knocked his fiancée out in an elevator.

Plus, there are not a lot of teams around the NFL that want to add a player to their roster with as much baggage as Mixon. The tolerance level for assaulting a female with teams today is basically at zero.

(Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Of the last eight NFL players to get arrested for domestic violence, five were released by their team within a week of their arrest, one (Johnny Manziel) was released less than two months after his arrest, one (Josh Brown) was suspended for a game by the league, and one (Ethan Westbrooks) has had no action taken against him by his team or the NFL since his arrest in March.

It may have taken a while, but the league has no time for people who assault women.

Yes, Mixon’s heinous act was committed when he was 18 years old. But if people can vote and visit a brothel when they are 18, then they should be held accountable for their actions at that age as well.

Some say Mixon has changed since that incident in 2014. But then what was his excuse last November?

(Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)

After getting a parking ticket one day while attending Oklahoma, the running back tore up the paper ticket, threw the remnants of the tickets at a parking attendant and told the attendant, “Don’t put that shit in my face.” The school suspended Mixon for a game, but allowed him back in time to help Oklahoma defeat Auburn in the Sugar Bowl and earn his coach a nice $200,000 bonus.

If the question were simply whether or not Mixon should be selected by a team in this year’s draft, it may be much easier for every organization to say no. But since people’s jobs are on the line, coaches and general managers are going to literally do whatever it takes to lead their teams to success.

Even if that means drafting a man who has a video online with over one million views of him introducing his fist to a woman’s face. But hey, at least he did not smoke any of that wacky weed or deflate any footballs, right?

About Adam Patrick

Adam has been covering the NFL for the last five years and his work has been published by a number of sports-related websites you may or may not have heard of including USA TODAY, SB Nation, and FanSided. In addition to writing for The Comeback, Adam is also the Co-Editor of The Viking Age. If you want to make him laugh, he's always in the mood for a good Manti Te'o joke.