In the NFL, timing is everything. And if you get arrested for attempted murder the same day the Patriots cut eventually-convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez, it’s going to leave a mark on your record.
But Ausar Walcott’s criminal record has finally been cleared, and now he wants another shot at football, though he knows he’s once again a longshot.
According to Dan Duggan of NJ.com, the 27-year-old linebacker from Virginia (who had been signed an an undrafted rookie by the Browns before his arrest) is trying to get his career back on track after getting his life back.
“I try not to look back like, ‘Aww, I was right there and it got taken from me,’ ” Walcott said. “I think there’s definitely another opportunity for me to play again. Whatever opportunity I’m given, I’m going to be 110 percent happy with it. I’m just going to work my way to where I want to be.”
The short version of his story goes something like this: There was a bar fight, in which he thinks he was targeted because he was an NFL player (sort of). One punch and the guy he hit ended up in a medically-induced coma. Walcott claimed self-defense The guy eventually recovered, but after initial charges of attempted murder were filed, he was eventually indicted on aggravated assault charges. He considered a plea to a felony charge which would have involved no jail time and five years of probation, but he took it to court, and in September, was found not guilty.
“When he was reading the verdict, it was like a 1,000-pound weight was lifted off my shoulder,” Walcott said. “I just fell back in the chair. It was just amazing to hear that after all those years. . . .
“They were crying,” Walcott said of the jurors. “They came up to me and said, ‘Sorry this ever happened to you.’ ”
He still as plenty of big legal bills, and he lost three years of what is ordinarily one’s athletic prime. But he also has his freedom, and is trying to use it to get back in the game. He’s tried out for the Arena League, and knows a CFL tryout is likely in his future if he wants to play again. But he said he ran a 4.57-second 40 at 235 pounds at the latest workout, which wasn’t far from when he came out of college.
“I still think I’m going to play. Even if I have to take the longest road, somehow, some way, I believe that,” he said. “Honestly, I think it’s made me a better, stronger, wiser person. I believe everything happens for a reason. Life is long. That was just three years of my life. I have a whole life to live. It’s honestly all on me on how I move forward.
“I can take it as a positive and make something good out of it, or I can take it as a negative and feel sorry for myself. I’m going to keep it as a positive and try to build something with it. I made it that far and it got taken away from me. I’m on the journey trying to make it back.”
With rosters of 90 through the offseason and plenty of players getting weekend tryouts, there’s reason for Walcott to have hope. After what he’s been through the last three years, that in and of itself is impressive.