NFL Draft Rumors: La’el Collins trying to get name withdrawn from draft
By Josh Hill
The NFL Draft is tonight, but for LSU tackle La’el Collins, the dream has become a nightmare has he desperately tries to pull his name from the draft in the 11th hour.
The NFL Draft is supposed to be a special night for the top college players in the country, as they graduate into the professional levels of their careers and officially become pro football players. But for some, the night can be less of a dream and more of a nightmare — which is the case for La’el Collins.
There are draft day nightmares like falling from being a top pick to a second round selection or hearing your name called by a team you have no desire to play for. But for Collins, his nightmare involves a murder case that is not only hampering his draft experience, it’s ruining it altogether.
According to Jay Glazer from FOxSports, LSU tackle La’el Collins is trying to get his name withdrawn from the NFL Draft in the 11th hour and enter the supplemental draft later on this summer. The reason for all of this surrounds the fact that teams are completely dropping Collins off their draft boards until his involvement in a murder investigation is cleared up.
Scoopage: Agent for LSU's La'el Collins trying to pull him from this draft allowing him time to clear his name then enter Supplemental Draft
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) April 30, 2015
Most are asking for a full police report clearing him before they are willing to draft him. Collins is slated to meet w police
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) April 30, 2015
Most are asking for a full police report clearing him before they are willing to draft him. Collins is slated to meet w police
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) April 30, 2015
Although Collins is desperate trying to get his name pulled from the draft, it’s up to the NFL whether or not he has that request granted.
NFL's call if Collins can get pulled from this draft
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) April 30, 2015
Collins is a first-round talent who was expected to to attend the draft and hear his name called on the first night of the draft. That won’t be the case though as Collins has left Chicago to go back home to Louisiana to try and clear his name in a murder case involving a woman he knew prior to her death.
For now, Collins isn’t a suspect in the case but after the Aaron Hernandez case and with the extra emphasis on not drafting psychos into the league, teams are understandably skeptical of Collins’ value. That doesn’t mean he’s guilty, rather he’s coming along at a time when there is more pressure than ever to double and triple check the character profiles of prospects, and that extends to excluding anyone involved in a murder case — suspect or not.