Will Aaron Hernandez and Richie Incognito Change how the NFL Teams will look at "Red-Flagged" Players?

To me the 2014 NFL Draft may see teams looking into a “red flagged” players past in different ways to see what kind of person they actually are.  I say this because of the recent issues in the Miami Dolphins locker room and also the Aaron Hernandez case.

While what happened in Miami is inexcusable there could have been preventive measures taken to stop it from happen, Miami should have looked into Incognito’s past a little more and saw that he has a trouble past. He spat in player’s faces which he was accused of, he had a fight in the spring of 2003 during practice, and also was charged in a fight in 2004.  Clearly he was an issue to have on a team before, so when the bullying scandal came out it should not have been a surprise, obviously him being in the NFL since 2005 may have changed how some felt about him.

Aaron Hernandez’s case is far worse, not only is he in trouble because he is accused of killing Odin Lloyd but he is also being looked at as the suspect in a double homicide in Boston in 2012.  He had his own issues in college as well, he got into a fight in 2007 after refusing to pay his tab at a local restaurant in Gainesville, Florida.  That was not it though, he had been involved with drugs in college and also a shootout outside of a bar, this was allegedly covered up with the help of then Florida Gator head coach Urban Meyer*.  Those should have been red flag indicators as well, but again it was covered up, though I am not sure how it was not even possibly discovered when he entered the draft.

These two players clearly have character issues when it pertains to violence, their college careers show this as true. 

I think that both of these incidents could change how “red flagged” players will be viewed entering the draft, 

because now that two players with troubled pasts have created issues legally the players entering the draft may have problems being picked.  Some players that are considered a high round pick could fall into the 4^th and 5^th rounds or may not even get drafted.

An example of that is the New England Patriots cornerback Alfonzo Dennard who was projected to be picked as high as the second round but fell due to issues such as being ejected from a game for fighting.  He also was charged for allegedly punching a police officer in the face, he fell to the 7^th round.  That is the kind of player teams will take late in the draft or sign after if they go un-drafted.

There has been a history of troubled players taken high that have got into legal trouble such as Jamarcus Russell and Ryan Leaf.  This year’s draft I could see Johnny Manziel falling if any more character issues arise, he has been arrested once in 2012 and also was accused of making money for autographs.  The arrest was for failure to identify and carrying a fictitious license, he also had a disorderly conduct charge as well.

While he is one heck of a player his issues could cause him to drop out of the top 5 in the draft.  We will wait and see how he does in the NFL and how he carries himself.

I truly believe that Hernandez and Incognito will impact this year’s draft for troubled players because of what they did.