As you can tell from speakers like Adam “Pacman” Jones, Terrell Owens and Michael Vick, one of the NFL’s goals for the Rookie Symposium is to keep players from making bad choices that wind up compromising their ability to be on the field.
Based on behavior since the draft, there isn’t a rookie who needs to hear those speeches more than Jaguars wide receiver Justin Blackmon. Blackmon’s arrest for driving under the influence earlier this month got his NFL career off on the wrong foot and raised a red flag that Jacksonville surely did not want to see after trading up to select Blackmon with the fifth overall pick.
Solomon Wilcots of the NFL Network caught up with Blackmon at the symposium on Thursday and asked him about his experiences at the event.
“It just opens it up a lot,” Blackmon said. “There’s a lot of good information here. I try to open up and take it all in.”
Blackmon also told Wilcots that he’s gotten a lot of support from his coaches with the Jaguars, which isn’t much of a surprise. Jacksonville has put a lot of their eggs in Blackmon’s basket when it comes to improving the team’s passing attack, so they are going to do everything in their power to make him a success. If their efforts pan out, Blackmon should be able to avoid a speaking engagement at future Rookie Symposiums.