The news that Louisiana Tech pass rusher Jaylon Ferguson is banned from the Scouting Combine doesn’t sit well with Ferguson’s agent.
Safarrah Lawson, Ferguson’s agent, issued a statement defending Ferguson and suggesting that the issue that got him banned from the Combine was fairly minor.
“We disagree with the NFL’s position with regards to Jaylon Ferguson,” the statement said, via Josina Anderson of ESPN. “Jaylon is a great person who made a mistake 4 years ago before he started playing college football. He was involved in a scuffle that resulted in him being charged with misdemeanor simple batter. He received a deferred judgment and $189.00 fine, a proper punishment for a fight between two teenagers. Since that day Jaylon has been a fine and upstanding student athlete that personifies the things we are trying to teach our young people today.”
The NFL’s decision not to let any player who has been involved in a violent incident attend the Combine has been met with some resistance, as many think that it doesn’t really do anything to punish the player but does keep teams from properly vetting the player by meeting him at the Combine and asking him directly to explain himself. Ferguson and his agent aren’t the only ones questioning this NFL rule.