Darrion Scott Wants Another Chance

Former Vikings defensive end Darrion Scott has been exiled from the NFL for more than a year, thanks to bizarre allegations of child abuse involving his two-year-old son. But Scott wants another chance, according to Sean Jensen of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Scott ultimately received a three-game suspension after pleading guilty to a gross misdemeanor charge of child endangerment, which was filed after the mother of Scott’s son found Scott holding a plastic bag over the boy’s head. Even now, Scott’s explanation sounds implausible. He says that he was putting the bag over his own head, and that it scared the boy. So Scott put the bag over the boy’s head in order to show him not to be afraid. And then the boy started squirming and the bag got stuck on the boy’s chin as Scott was trying to remove it. Then there’s the fact that Scott was keeping a loaded .50-caliber gun in an unlocked nightstand, which the boy could access. But even though Scott and his agent are saying all the right things, getting a second chance without first-tier talent has proven to be very difficult. “When the question comes up, ‘Are you absolutely sure nothing else is going to happen?’ How can I be sure?” said Brian Baker, Scott’s former position coach in Minnesota, who now works for the Panthers. “I think the chance of him doing something else silly, if he gets another chance, is far, far less,” Baker said. “It would be a surprise, but I can’t swear that it won’t happen again.” And so with plenty of other guys who have equivalent talent without the baggage, Scott likely will have to resort to the CFL or the UFL, and he’ll have to dominate there before ever getting another crack at the NFL. If that’s the route Scott has to take, he sounds willing to do so. “I just want to put on the pads and play football,” Scott said.