Popular Question
For two straight Open Forums I received the same question from readers claiming the NFL Network said offensive lineman Drew Radovich was not drafted by an NFL team due to "character concerns" and "off the field issues."
I'm going to assume the readers are right about what the NFL Network said. That aside, I feel it's worth repeating that Drew Radovich did not have any issues before the draft. I have heard about off the field issues for a USC player but it was not Drew Radovich. So I think it's a case of mistaken identity.
I didn't hear it from the NFL Network, but several other media sources are saying that Radovich was not drafted because of off the field issues:
http://www.patriots.com/news/index.cfm?ac=latestnewsdetail&pid=31817&pcid=46
Here is another link that mentions he had off the field issues http://www.gbnreport.com/updatedtop100.html
I am curious what the NFL investigators dug up on him as it keeps being mentioned but no details are revealed.
I looked at the first link and it didn't say that Radovich had off the field issues, only that they had "character" concerns. The second link just had a code that indicated off the field issues.
Now I admit that character concerns might be code for off the field issues but I don't think character concerns would always indicate some actual negative incident. Things like poor work ethic or not meeting committments could lead to character concerns.
Who is the other USC player with off th field problems? Also, maybe was not drafted because so many other tackles were drafted before him in other rounds.
Chauncey's early academic problems could be what Scott's tang about. People thought he might go in the 4-5th rounds.
Spanos could be another. He had school issues early on as well.
I was watching the draft on the NFL Network and I thought it was interesting when in the middle of the draft, the announcers were going through the list of players who had yet to be drafted and mentioned that Radovich had recent off the field issues that raised some concerns about his character. They went on to say that teams were weary of drafting him due to these character issues. Lo and behold, a few hours after they said those things, it turned out that Radovich went undrafted. So these off-field issues were being mentioned both during and after the draft.
All I heard from them is that the issues may have been recent (at least I think that's what I remember their saying), but no word on what the league investigations brought up about him.
I can't imagine they would mistake him for someone else, considering that would affect his entire life and career.
Scott - perhaps you don't know everything you think you do about the the program. Perhaps you should do some digging about Mr Radovich and his "off the field" and "character" issues. Here's a hint. He and another draftable former trojan/special teams player were involved in an incident last summer that involved them using some racial slurs. that alone is enough to raise a red flag with nfl teams. the biggest problem was that they were foolish enough to direct their slurs at a former trojan great/all american/former nfl player. Thats enough of a hint, SW, you should be able to do the rest. then we will see if you have the cajones to report the real true story once you find out.
Someone took their cryptic pill this morning.