Adams: Allegations alone enough to drop players' draft stock

ESPN’s blow-by-blow account of the NFL draft wasn’t all about football. It also reflected the impact of off-the-field issues.

Early in the first round, there was considerable speculation on how far Ohio State cornerback Gareon Conley might fall after news that a woman had accused him of rape. He denied the accusation and wasn’t charged. But ESPN’s analysts concluded if not for the accusation, he would have gone higher than 24th in the first round.

Florida State’s Dalvin Cook, regarded as having first-round talent, wasn’t taken until the second round. The summer before his sophomore year, he was charged with hitting a woman outside a Tallahassee, Fla., bar. A jury later found him not guilty, but there were other brushes with the law that apparently affected how NFL teams viewed him.

The NFL thought even less of Oklahoma’s Joe Mixon, another running back with first-round talent. The Cincinnati Bengals took him in the second round, but other teams were repelled by the videotape of Mixon knocking out a female student. He received a deferred sentence, was suspended from the Sooners for a year and eventually settled a civil suit with the victim.

Mixon received a harsher sentence from the draft. His tumble from the first to the third round will cost him millions of dollars.

Thankfully, the NFL no longer takes violence against women lightly. Athletes guilty of violence against women, sexual or otherwise, should be punished severely.

But think about the other side, too. What about an athlete wrongfully accused? Could he recoup his financial losses?

There’s no doubt about Mixon’s guilt. What about Conley’s, though?

Local attorney Marcos Garza is aware of both sides of the issue. Our conversation ranged from the general to the specific, as in the case of former Tennessee linebacker A.J. Johnson, who is awaiting trial on rape charges. So is former teammate Michael Williams, who also was charged with rape for an incident that allegedly occurred in November 2014. Both were dismissed from the Tennessee team right away.

However, what if Johnson is ruled not guilty? Could he pursue legal action? After all, his hopes for an NFL career are virtually over.

The investigators and Knoxville Police Department have sovereign immunity, Garza said. And since the investigators found enough evidence to charge Johnson, the school would be shielded by that process.

“You could sue the individuals who made the claim,” Garza said. “But what if they just have an apartment and a 2004 Honda Accord?”

Even if an athlete won in criminal court, that doesn’t mean he would be successful with a civil suit.

“Someone on a civil jury might say, ‘I still think he’s guilty,’ ” Garza said.

And in the court of public opinion, allegations alone can lead to conclusions of guilt. Having defended clients wrongfully accused of sex crimes, Garza knows all about that.

“That’s why we do everything we can to keep allegations from coming out (in such cases),” he said. “They’re very powerful.”

And those allegations can be especially powerful on draft day.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him on Twitter: @JohnAdamsKNS.