Mallett more than ready to face critics, agent says

Reports that former Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett skipped the 2010 NFL Draft because of drug problems are not truthful, Mallett’s agent J.R. Carroll said Tuesday, adding he’s been “chasing ghosts” for three weeks.
Reports that former Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett skipped the 2010 NFL Draft because of drug problems are not truthful, Mallett’s agent J.R. Carroll said Tuesday, adding he’s been “chasing ghosts” for three weeks.

— Ryan Mallett’s camp responded emphatically Tuesday to growing Internet reports that have questioned the former Arkansas quarterback’s character and hinted at Mallett having a drug problem in his past.

J.R. Carroll, Mallett’s Fayetteville based agent, said Tuesday that a report that Mallett skipped the 2010 NFL Draft because of a possible drug addiction was “completely false.”

Carroll said he has been “chasing ghosts” the past three weeks, trying to find the sources of rumors and reports regarding Mallett, who is flying Thursday to Indianapolis to participate in interviews and passing drills at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Carroll said he has heard and read all the criticism of Mallett online, including a blog Tuesday by Tony Softli, a former scout and front-office executive with the St. Louis Rams and Carolina Panthers, on St. Louis based radio station WXOS-FM that questioned the quarterback’s maturity and character.

Wrote Softli of Mallett: “Character and drug use issues are starting to rear their ugly head. Heavy rumors of drug use and possible addiction kept him from coming out for the 2010 draft.”

Carroll disputed the report.

“The reason why Ryan decided to come back was, one, he wanted to play for the state of Arkansas for one more year and, also, professionally, having only 12 games of film is not the position you want to be in when you go into the NFL,” Carroll said.

Carroll also said he would like Softli “to point me in the direction of one person who could substantiate those allegations.

“The only subjective evidence on the subject is the three years of random drug tests by Ryan Mallett at the University of Arkansas,” Carroll said. “The test results are what they are. Every test he took at the University of Arkansas was negative.

“Ryan doesn’t have an addiction, and it’s substantiated by three years of drug testing.”

Mallett’s only incident on record in Fayetteville was his arrest March 1, 2009, for public intoxication when he was 20.

Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino, who was speaking Tuesday evening in Batesville at a White River Razorback Club function, issued a statement on Mallett through the school’s media relations department saying that Mallett did “a tremendous job for our program.”

“Every year at this time, players all across the country are scrutinized by teams that are determining who to invest a lot in,” Petrino said in the statement. “It is unfortunate, but every year you hear a lot of things about different players coming from a lot of different places.”

Carroll said Mallett would be available to all the NFL teams in Indianapolis to answer any questions about his background.

“He understands he’s going to get asked a lot of tough questions,” Carroll said. “To be quite frank, he’s really looking forward to it.”

Softli suggested Mallett might be subjected to a hair follicle test at the combine to determine any recent drug use.

“Ryan will be more than happy to submit to any type of drug test at the combine,” Carroll said.

Carroll, who is working with Athletes First of Los Angeles in representing Mallett, said the team came up with the decision to “shut Ryan down” from all interviews starting last week to allow him to focus on the combine and Arkansas’ annual pro day event March 8. Mallett has been training in Frisco, Texas.

“He needs to prepare, and he is preparing for the combine just like it would be Saturday night vs. LSU,” Carroll said.

From a physical standpoint, Mallett will only be throwing Sunday at the combine. He will not be running the 40-yard dash or participating in other drills or lifting weights.

Carroll said Mallett would be doing those drills less than 10 days later at Arkansas’ pro day event.

“At the pro day, there’s going to be everybody there who wants to draft Ryan,” Carroll said. “Doing it at his pro day allows him to be more focused on that specific audience.”

Sports, Pages 19 on 02/23/2011

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