Lions GM: 'Disappointing' and 'unfair' that Joe Mixon wasn't invited to NFL combine

Bob Quinn added that Mixon is still on their draft board despite striking a woman in 2014

Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon was not invited to the NFL combine because he punched a woman in 2014. 

Still, despite that incident, Lions general manager Bob Quinn used his time at the podium Wednesday to express his disappointment that Mixon isn’t at the combine. He also revealed that Mixon is still on the Lions’ draft board. 

Here are his full comments, as transcribed by Sports Illustrated’s Chris Burke:

“It’s really disappointing that he’s not here. We come here to see the best college football players ... so there’s 330, 40 some odd players here and for him not being here because of those issues, personally I don’t think that’s real fair because we have a lot of investigation that we want to do on him and to get him in one spot for all the teams would’ve been great. 

“I’m not part of those decisions about how those guys are chosen, but I think it is a disappointment that guys like him -- and there’s a few others you can put in that category -- we’re going to be chasing around in the months of March and April, and it’s really unfair to the players, to be honest to you. The door’s open, and I’d like to be able to get a chance to sit down with the people that know Joe, or Joe, and see what the circumstances around the incident.

“He is still on our draft board, yes.”

That last part isn’t surprising. Mixon, because of his tremendous talent, is likely to be drafted by a team that is willing to look past that incident. After all, the Chiefs drafted Tyreek Hill last year even after Hill pleaded guilty to choking and punching his pregnant girlfriend.

I place Joe Mixon's chance of getting drafted before the end of Day 2 at 99.9%. The .1% is divided between "4th round " and "meteor strike."

— Mike Tanier 📎 (@MikeTanier) March 1, 2017

Mixon, a threat in both the running and passing game, rushed for 1,274 yards last year (6.8 yards per carry) and totaled 538 yards as a receiver. In all, he reached the end zone 15 times. So no, his talent on the field isn’t in question.

However, his character off the field is an entirely different story. In 2014, Mixon punched Amelia Molitor in a restaurant. The video, as expected, is extremely graphic. 

He ended up accepting a plea deal, avoiding jail time.