The Miami Dolphins had scheduled a news conference for rookie draft pick Laremy Tunsil out of Ole Miss but had to cancel the event Friday. Apparently originating from a hack of his account, the video, which seems to be at least two years old, surfaced just 10 minutes before the start of the Draft, and it cost Tunsil, but gave Miami an immediate upgrade to their offensive line.
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Tunsil, 21, was projected by several NFL Draft experts to be selected with the No. 8 overall pick. He first said he was unaware of the incident until after Tunsil was drafted, and then he said it’s what makes the draft “exciting”. ‘I’m going to show them why I’m the best player – I should be – in the draft’.
Earlier in the day, Tunsil again made headlines when Dolphins Coach Adam Gase, Vice President Mike Tannenbaum and General manager Chris Grier began the team’s first draft press conference without Tunsil in attendance.
“Felt good about his character”, Tannenbaum said. The NCAA has ruled that Tunsil can return to the field on Saturday, Oct. 24 against No. 15 Texas A&M after a seven-game suspension for receiving improper benefits. “We were comfortable making this decision”. Tunsil said he attacked Miller after his stepfather assaulted his mother, Desiree Polingo.
When asked about the video, he didn’t confirm or deny it was him at first, but later admitted to it being him.
The picture was quickly deleted, followed shortly after by Tunsil’s entire Twitter account, but the damage had been done.
Another post on his Instagram account showed an alleged text exchange with an Ole Miss football staff member that included Tunsil’s request for money.
Ole Miss is now embroiled in an NCAA investigation in which it was accused of 28 violations, a number of them directly related to Tunsil.
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On Friday, Dolphin officials told reporters that they had spoken with Tunsil’s high school and college coaches and that they were familiar with the video. He said that nobody expected it to happen and it was actually good for the National Football League in the end. They could let Tunsil play at left tackle and move either Branden Albert or Ju’Wuan James to one of the guard spots.
