Ex-Oklahoma State & Jacksonville Jaguars Wide Receiver Justin Blackmon Was Arrested On Oklahoma State's Campus For Public Intoxication

24/7 Sports - New details emerged following the weekend arrest of former Oklahoma State star and first-round NFL draft pick Justin Blackmon. Police took the two-time Biletnikoff Award winner into custody on the Oklahoma State University campus and charged him with public intoxication. According to the incident report obtained by The O'Colly, the student newspaper at Oklahoma State, the responding officer noted the smell of alcohol on Blackmon along with breath odor, and observed that his clothes appeared to be wet at the time of the arrest.

OSUPD dispatched to the south side of the campus library at 1:32 a.m. after student employees reported a large Black male lying on the ground. By the time the responding officer arrived, Blackmon had entered a separate campus building. When the officer encountered Blackmon, he noted the subject appeared "unsteady on his feet," according to the report.

The officer questioned Blackmon about his actions, to which Blackmon replied he was trying to walk home, despite residing in Ardmore, Oklahoma. His speech was reportedly slurred and difficult to understand, and he repeatedly claimed he was headed to Stillwater, where the Oklahoma State campus is located. When Hart pressed him further, Blackmon eventually admitted he did not live in Stillwater, saying, "You got me," before placing his hands behind his back. Blackmon was then arrested for public intoxication.

The story of Justin Blackmon's football career is about as sad as it gets. Justin Blackmon is the epitome of "what could have been" for a professional athlete. I vividly remember watching him at Oklahoma State. In my mind, he was Calvin Johnson. A wide receiver built in a lab. If you'd have asked me before today how tall Justin Blackmon was, I'd have told you he's no shorter than 6-foot-3. As it turns out, he wasn't even 6-foot-1.

I only say that as a testament to how insanely impressive he was as a player. He played so big. So fast. So strong. He was the best wide receiver in college football for two consecutive seasons. 2 Biletnikoff Awards. 2 First Team All-Americans. Finished 5th in Heisman voting in 2010.

But even despite all the accolades, and all the phenomenally impressive on-field performances, when I think of Justin Blackmon in college, the first thing that always comes to mind was his relationship with a young girl with Leukemia.

Not only was he amazing on the field, but he seemed to have a great heart. He would have been the perfect NFL prospect and, the perfect NFL player in every way. He wasn't a diva. He just showed up and performed every Saturday. But there was always the knock against him that he liked to drink. He already had one DUI in college. Heading into the draft, there was the famous story of an NFL team who sent a scout to a local bar in Stillwater, Oklahoma to see how often he showed up. It was a lot. To the point that the team took him off their draft board. But hey…  it never slowed him down at Oklahoma State. I'm sure many teams would take a half-drunk Justin Blackmon over 95% of receivers in the draft. The Jaguars still took him 5th overall. 

But for whatever reason, he could never quite get that monkey off his back. Things just steadily got worse for Justin Blackmon since being drafted.

The crazy thing is, despite all his troubles, despite how quickly he flamed out, despite being drunk a majority of the time, he was still a highly effective NFL wide receiver. Halfway through his first year he was a bonafide #1 receiver. Especially considering he had Blaine Gabbart and Chad Henne throwing him the ball on a 2-14 Jaguars team, it was an impressive rookie season.

Then in his second season, before he was suspended without pay for yet another violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy, just look at the numbers he was putting up.

Those are the last 4 NFL games he ever played. Finished his career with 93 REC,1280 YDS, 6 TD's in 20 games played. 13.8/YPC. 64.0/YPG. Those aren't your typical NFL Draft bust numbers 

Addiction is brutal. It's so hard to overcome. It affects everybody differently. It hits some harder than others. There's no perfect treatment. For some people, it's just a fucking bear that can take years, and years, and years of messing up over, and over, and over again before they can finally get a handle on their lives. Some people are never able to get out of it. Even if you manage to get clean, it's something you deal with every day. And no matter how great you're doing, it only takes one moment of weakness to throw it all away. It's something that can snowball so easily. I don't want to speak for Justin Blackmon, but I can only imagine the pain of living with being a #5 overall NFL Draft pick and having your addiction blow it all up. I'm sure that's not easy to live with. But I'm sure drinking is one thing that makes that shit go away. At least temporarily. 

The details that came out today about Justin Blackmon's arrest are especially sad. The fact that he's still hanging around Oklahoma State's campus. Lying on the ground, clothes soaking wet. Apparently being too big to fit in the back of a cop car.

Although I will say… Justin Blackmon is a big guy… but currently he's reported to be 6-foot-1, 230 pounds. That shouldn't be "not fitting in a cop car" big. If police in Oklahoma are having to call in a backup vehicle every time they arrest someone bigger than that, then they must be forced to do that on a daily basis. That's more of a cop car problem than a Justin Blackmon being too fat problem. 

I hope Justin Blackmon is able to get the help he needs someday. It's so sad to watch something like this happen, even from a far over the internet. In the grand scheme of things, he's still young. He's only 35 years old. He has so much more life to live. I hope he has someone close to him who's able to help see him through whatever comes next after this. Football isn't everything. He still has plenty of time to live a long, happy, and fulfilling life. People have dug themselves out of far worse holes.