UPDATE: This post has been updated to include a recantation of the original statement. You can see the original post and the update below.
Joe Mixon's checkered past including an incident at the University of Oklahoma in which he punched a woman, Amelia Molitor, has sparked debate about whether NFL teams should select him and how high in next week's NFL Draft.
We've previously argued that it may be best for the Eagles to let his off-the-field issues be another team's concern.
But a new report today about a previous physical altercation with another woman when Mixon was in high school has surfaced and it has reportedly caused enough alarm for the Eagles to remove Mixon from their draft board entirely.
The new incident came to light in a video that was released by the Norman Police Department last week. From a post on DallasNews.com:
In the video, Molitor's lawyer reads from a report from a man named Anthony Hernandez, who alleged Mixon punched another girl in high school and got away from it. Mixon has denied punching any other women.
"I know for a fact he threw my daughter to the ground and hit her. I went to the school and...they hid him in the office. He got no punishment. The police even came. I was escorted off the campus as if I did something wrong. These are simply the facts, he's a woman beater," the report said.
After this most recent incident surfaced, 94 WIP's Howard Eskin says "I hear [Mixon] already off #eagles board."
NFL
Mixon's camp has denied these most recent allegations to CBS.
"I think it's shameful that irresponsible journalists are not looking at both sides of the story and aren't asking for comment before they go with innuendo and hearsay," Mixon's agent Peter Schaffer told CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora. "They don't attempt to verify the statement. It's unprofessional, and there is a 20-year-old young man whose career is at stake right now, and this kid has done nothing but all the right things leading up to the draft and all that we ask is that you treat him fairly and look into the allegations first.
"For anybody to go out there and print that without at least calling and checking in with both sides is irresponsible. Nothing happened. Nothing happened in high school. There is no incident or event at all and the teams that have asked us about it and have fully done their homework are aware of that. Joe has told them everything. Any team that has asked about it, Joe has told them everything."
UPDATE: Anthony Hernandez, the father quoted in the video, has recently recanted the earlier statement. From a statement sent to ProFootballTalk:
"I have recently learned that a comment I made about Joe Mixon on social media a few years ago is now receiving a lot of attention. I want to explain that comment and clarify that I do not believe Joe ever did anything to hurt my daughter," Hernandez wrote.
"My daughter went to Freedom High School with Joe, and they have been friends for much of their lives. Once, when they were in school together, my daughter had a minor disagreement with some of her classmates that got blown out of proportion. Like any father would, I reacted emotionally. Unfortunately, I did so before I had all the facts. Now, having talked to my daughter and investigated the whole story, I realize that I was mistaken about Joe's involvement. I definitely overreacted, and I regret that my words might have given some people the wrong impression about Joe. I know that Joe did not hurt my daughter, did not intend to, and would not do so."
From Last Month: The Eagles and the Joe Mixon Dilemma