It is hard to fathom a draft night going worse than Laremy Tunsil’s last Thursday, and it seems like he might not be out of the woods yet. ESPN reported earlier this week that Tunsil would not be placed in the NFL’s substance abuse program, but a recent statement from a league spokesman suggests this report may have jumped the gun.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy on ESPN report #Dolphins rookie Laremy Tunsil won't enter the NFL in the drug program: pic.twitter.com/15sMDn7dpk
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 3, 2016
The ESPN story cited an anonymous source, so it is tough to determine if the report is completely inaccurate. It is possible the source is one of those professionals NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy references in his statement. However, it is clear those professionals have not yet notified the NFL of their decision, meaning Tunsil is not off the hook yet.
This whole saga began last Thursday, when just prior to the draft, a video showing Tunsil smoking out of a gas mask-bong hybrid was posted to his official Twitter account. Once in the conversation for the No. 1 overall pick, Tunsil fell all the away to Miami at No. 13 with teams obviously scared off by the video. Later in the night, images of a text message exchange between Tunsil and an Ole Miss coach were posted to his Instagram account. The messages seemingly implicated him and the program for an exchange of impermissible benefits, and Tunsil admitted it happened when asked about it at a press conference that night.
Tunsil caught a lot of heat, much of it undeserved, over the last few days, and it is hard not to feel for him at this point. Just when it looked like he caught a break, the NFL swoops in and backtracks. Tunsil may still avoid the program, but if anyone needed a win this week it was him.
