The seventh-round pick (224th overall) out of Nebraska signed a four-year deal today. He was reportedly a second or third-round talent before he was arrested on April 21 on suspicion of assaulting a police officer. Not that there's ever a good time for something like that but it was especially dumb since it came only a few days before the 2012 NFL Draft.
With Brandon Spikes and Aaron Hernandez being recent examples, the Patriots have proven to not be shy about drafting guys with so called character issues. However, as far as we know all that Spikes and Hernandez did at Florida was smoke some weed. Dennard's incident is a whole other story.
From ESPNBoston.com
After the draft, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said on Sirius XM NFL Radio, "We just don't feel that's who he is, or even how the account of the incident came out in some places, that's what happened. But we'll see. Bottom line is we were comfortable with him, and that if he did make a mistake like so many of us have, that he'll be able to represent our organization and our team the way we want it represented and we were comfortable taking him."
On May 15, Dennard waived his right to a preliminary hearing. He will be arraigned May 30 in Lancaster County District Court.
This was a player that was the top defensive back in the Big Ten last season so New England decided that he was worth the risk, especially in the seventh round. Let's all cross our fingers that Dennard can get his life in order and not get caught up in any other off the field issues while he's in Foxborough.
Dennard became the third Patriots rookie, joining defensive back Tavon Wilson and wide receiver Jeremy Ebert, to sign their first professional contracts in the past week.
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