Roger Goodell apparently was the last person even remotely interested in the NFL draft to find out that video had surfaced of Laremy Tunsil smoking out of a gas mask.
The NFL commissioner claims he found out about the video, which was sent from Tunsil’s Twitter account at the start of the draft Thursday night, after the top offensive tackle prospect had fallen to 13th overall and picked by the Miami Dolphins.
And that wasn’t the craziest thing Goodell said Friday morning on ESPN’s “Mike & Mike” radio show. Goodell had a bizarre reaction when asked what he thought about Tunsil tumbling in the first round.
“Well, I think it’s all part of what makes the draft so exciting,” Goodell said. “Clubs make decisions. Sometimes they take risks. Sometimes they do the right things, and sometimes they don’t. We’ll see. Hopefully he’s going to turn out to be a great, young player.”
“Exciting” isn’t the first word many would use when describing a 21-year-old losing millions of dollars by falling in the draft over what is claimed to be a two-year-old video posted without his consent.
Here’s what Goodell had to say when asked how aware he was of the Tunsil situation as it unfolded.
“I really wasn’t,” Goodell said. “It was quite a bit later in the first round when I first heard about it. We’re just so busy. I didn’t have a moment. … It was after he was picked.”
It seems very bizarre that no one around Goodell would have told him why one of the top prospects in his league’s draft was suddenly and precipitously falling. Suspect, even.
Thumbnail photo via Kamil Krzaczynski/USA TODAY Sports Images
