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The agent for Louisiana Tech pass rusher Jaylon Ferguson said disinviting his client from this month’s NFL Scouting Combine sends the wrong message to players who make mistakes and try to make amends.
Ferguson, a potential first-round pick in April’s NFL draft, was convicted of misdemeanor simple battery following an incident at a McDonald’s during his freshman year at Louisiana Tech.
According to a statement Thursday from his agent, Safarrah Lawson, Ferguson received a deferred judgment and a $189 fine. “A proper punishment for a fight between two teenagers,” Lawson wrote.
“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 past four years at Louisiana Tech, Jaylon has been a team leader who has led on and off the field, clearly learning from the lessons of his past,” Lawson wrote in the statement.
“As opposed to penalizing and vilifying the future players of the league, we would hope the league would allow Jaylon and other similarly situated players the opportunity to prove to potential employers that they are remorseful, and have learned from their mistakes, accepted responsibility, want to be good role models and are better people now for it.”
The league rescinded Ferguson’s invitation to the Combine because the NFL doesn’t allow players to attend who have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving violence.
“No person is perfect, and people are entitled to second chances and opportunities,” Lawson wrote.
Ferguson is the NCAA’s all-time sack leader with 45, including 17.5 as a senior in 2018.
Teams already have begun to schedule personal visits with Ferguson, according to NFL Network.

–Field Level Media