Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Ryan Mallett met with the media during Saturday's NFL Draft Combine. Reviews of Mallett’s performance were not favorable among many NFL media. (Judge for yourself by watching here).

What did the press not like? Mallett was characterized as cocky (a criticism he's dealt with before) and they didn't appreciate that Mallett attempted to turn conversation away from rumored drug use. He said it was something he “laughed about” and would be discussing in the 12 meetings with teams he had scheduled this weekend.

“I can’t control that. That’s why I don’t want to talk about it. There’s nothing I can control about it.”

Mallett probably didn’t win himself any friends with one exchange that had nothing to do with drug use. Asked how he would respond to questions about his accuracy, Mallett said:

“7,000-plus yards and 60 touchdowns in two seasons. That’s how I respond to that.”

Was it the most endearing interview ever? No. But the national media piling on seemed over the top.

National blogger Sports By Brooks wondered via Twitter why Mallet was taking so much heat nationally:

"As jaded as I am, the media's witch hunt of Ryan Mallet is stunning. Zero specific allegations, so what justifies rumormongering?"

Brooks added:

Since media is so sure Mallett did something wrong/illegal, why hasnt there been specific allegations from them? Gutless. Embarrassing.

NFL Network analyst Brian Billick, a former NFL coach, said he was impressed with the way that Mallett and Auburn quarterback Cam Newton were dealing with scrutiny. His comments:

“He thought the media was persistent? Wait until he gets to these [NFL] interviews. Overall, I’m not a huge Cam Newton fan, necessarily. I’ll tell you this, watching these two young guys deal with this; I’m kind of impressed with the way they’re dealing with this. Ryan Mallett, welcome to the NFL. This ain’t Arkansas any more Dorothy. This is life in the NFL. You’re going to have to deal with this. Every year we sit here and deal with these character issues and it comes down to the same thing: Young people do stupid things. Is this a sign of character or is this just some mistakes that young people are making.”