With the NFL Draft one week away, the rumor mill goes into overdrive. Every year names get linked to failed drug tests, paternity issues, and criminal records. Sometimes the accusations fail to rise above above a whisper, or only reveal a minor transgression. But annually there is a player that takes a hit, literally. With the guaranteed money descending rapidly, a college misdemeanor can be costly. It's not surprising that whispers surround the event, but rather the angle and veracity of the rumors. Are rival teams trying to get a player to fall to them? Is the kid really a screw-up? The concerns of fire beneath the smoke rack the minds of coaches and general managers. The problem with rumors is many; often they can be flat out false, more often they can be deceiving and fail to provide much insight. Yet sometimes they are blaring red flags that some acknowledge and others ignore or overlook. Dan Marino, Randy Moss, Warren Sapp, and Lawrence Phillips were all at one time considered Top 5 picks. The first three are Canton material, yet each was dogged by pre-draft bad mouthing and fell swiftly out of the top 10. Phillips on the other hand, who turned out worse than the draft pundits could imagine, only slipped to 6. His career never amounted to anything, while Marino, Moss and Sapp are some the finest to ever play their position. What can pre-draft rumors teach us? The story of each reveals that the process can be whittled to no more than an educated guess.

In 1983 Dan Marino was coming off his senior season after a prolific career at Pitt. He figured to be top 10 pick, despite a loaded QB class. Somehow, in the pre-internet era, word began to spread that Marino enjoyed a little cocaine. Never substatiated, and always denied, nonetheless Marino's rep was damaged. John Elway, Todd Blackledge, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason, Ken O'Brien were all taken before the Dolphins selected Isotoner Dan with the 27th pick. The rumors were nothing more than farts in the wind as Dan silenced the haters with a Hall of Fame career and nary a drug issue.

In 1995 Warren Sapp skipped school a season early and entered the draft. Towards the tail end of his Hurricanes career there were rumors of failed drug tests. The story came out before Miami faced Nebraska in the 1994 Orange Bowl. Allegedly Coach Dennis Erickson helped conceal the positive results, and the events had pushed Sapp into declaring early. With the Lombardi and Nagurski trophies on his resume, a big body blessed with nimble feet, Sapp was a sure top 5. The marijuana queries ended up culiminating in an odd episode, word leaked that Sapp had failed drug tests at the Combine by testing positive for cocaine and pot. The NFL dismissed the reports as false, but only addressed the cocaine. Teams were scared, and 11 passed until the Bucs took Sapp. The marijuana issue was verified by a misdemeanor possession arrest in 1997, but the charges were dismissed after a successful motion to suppress. But seriously, who cares? Given Sapp's 7 Pro Bowls, the rumors seem rather overblown. What G.M. wouldn't trade those troubles for Sapp's dominance in the trenches?

Randy Moss is the next step in the rumor hierchary. Marino's rumors were false, Sapp's were probably true, but overblown, and Randy's were not only true, but potentially problematic. Unlike the other two, Moss sat at the precipice of the NFL with a track record of trouble. After signing with Notre Dame as a high school senior, Moss got into a fight and plead guilty to battery. He was cut by the Irish and was quickly snapped up by Bobby Bowden. Unfortunately the NCAA ruled that Moss must sit out as a transfer since he had already signed the letter of intent. Sitting out for the year Moss managed to violate his probation by smoking weed. Forced to cut him, the Seminoles said goodbye to the future Biletkinoff Award winner. Finally eligible at Marshall, Moss galloped for 53 touchdowns in 2 seasons. When the 1998 Draft came around Moss was a hot topic. The talk wasn't really rumors, most of his issues were out in the open, but teams were concerned.
The Freak fell all the way to the Vikings with the 21th pick to the shock of many. Cowboy Jerry Jones passed on him with 8th and offered up
some pansey excuses the day after. Moss went on to set records for most receiving TDs and yards in a rookie season, and now owns the single season TD mark as well. He's a beast that again, any G.M. keen on winning would take despite
an annual brain fart. What have we learned? Nothing. One can never tell if they landed the next Adrian Peterson or Lawrence Phillips.

Phillips was a horse starting his sophmore season in 1994 at Nebraska. The Huskers started the season with Tommie Frazier at QB, but blood clots forced him to miss the last six games of the season. Soon enough Coach Tom Osborne was down to 3rd string QB and few choices on offense. Phillips carried the mail, logging 1,722 yards as the Huskers won the Big 8 Conference. In the Orange Bowl against a stout Miami Hurricanes defense, Phillips managed
96 tough yards. The 1995 season began with Phillips on every Heisman radar and with over 200 yards at Michigan State in week 2 his stock was soaring. Late in the evening when the Huskers arrived back in Lincoln, Phillips went to his ex-girlfriends apartment and dragged her down a flight of stairs by her hair. Suspended and tarnished, the word on Phillips began to spread amongst NFL front offices. Raised in a foster home, and now battering a woman, was Phillips susceptible to problems? Coach Osborne reinstated him for the last 2 regular season games and the outset of 1995 Fiesta Bowl there were many questions about Phillips. After an impressive performance in
Nebraska's mauling of the Florida Gators, the draftniks were abuzz. Taken with 6th pick by the Rams, Phillips was considered the best back in the 1996 Draft. Most considered his talent undeniable; Theisman thought,
"the mental aspect I believe is behind him," but the sage Mel Kiper knew better. Mental issues must account for a failed NFL career due in large part to plain insuborbdination. Phillips ended up skipping enough practices to get the softy Dick Vermeil to cut him. After that an assault charge and more inability to come to practices cost Phillips chances with the Dolphins, NFL Europe and the 49ers. Out of the League completely by 1998, his biggest NFL impression was missing the block on Aneas Williams that ended up KOing Steve Young. By 2005 Phillips had sunk to playing pickup football in the park with teenagers in Los Angeles. Somehow, and for some reason he tried to drive his car into several of the teens. Convicted of 7 counts of assault with a deadly weapon, Phillips was sentenced to 10 years in California's State Prison.