The NFL rescinded its combine invite to Louisiana Tech defensive end Jaylon Ferguson on Wednesday because he got into a fight at McDonald’s and was charged with misdemeanor simple battery.
The league has a policy of disallowing prospects with violent transgressions on their record. This rule went into effect back in 2016, and the intent was to keep players who have been convicted of domestic violence, sexual assault or weapons offenses out of the combine — part of the league’s response to the Frank Clark situation, among others.
When the memo, issued by NFL’s executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent, was released, he wrote that players would “be barred from ‘any league-related event’ if a background check turns up a felony or misdemeanor conviction,” per USA Today Sports.
The thing is, while Ferguson was charged with misdemeanor simple battery, it hardly qualifies as the type of incident the NFL was targeting with this rule.
He didn’t assault a woman. He didn’t rob someone at gunpoint. He didn’t commit the unconscionable act of sexual assault.
The kid got into a scuffle at McDonald’s, which resulted in a deferred judgement and a $189 fine, his agent, Safarrah Lawson, revealed as she ripped into the NFL with a statement Thursday morning.
As Lawson points out, Ferguson has been an upstanding citizen with no further offenses on his record since that fight.
In fact, Ferguson went on to become a highly respected leader for the Bulldogs. He’s exactly the type of young man the league needs to promote, rather than excoriate.
There’s certainly no small amount of hypocrisy here, too. As this young man is being barred from attending the biggest job interview of his life, the NFL continually gives players like Reuben Foster and Kareem Hunt multiple chances to play ball, despite accusations, and proof, that they’ve committed sins of a far more incendiary nature.
Rescinding Ferguson’s combine invite absolutely sends the wrong message. He’s not some repeat offender who can’t stop inflicting violence. He isn’t a criminal. He got into a fight as a teenager and was hit with a minor fine. By all accounts, he’s a good kid who has a chance to parlay his 17.5-sack season into millions of dollars for himself and his family.
There was no need to drag him through the mud like this.