Joe Mixon's Shameful Return to the Media Spotlight

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Joe Mixon had nearly a year-and-a-half to prepare for this day. That's how long ago it was that the Oklahoma running back punched a woman in the face in a restaurant. Since then he had a year's suspension from the team, 100 hours of community service and court-ordered counseling to think this through.

He finally spoke for the first time publicly Tuesday in Oklahoma's press conference before its College Football Playoff semifinal against Clemson at the Orange Bowl, and, predictably, someone asked what he had learned. And this is what he said:

"What do you mean what did I learn?"

The story is well-documented. In July 2014, Mixon punched a female OU student in an early-morning argument. Three months later, he entered a plea to an assault charge. Oklahoma suspended him for a year but then let him back on the team. There was a video, but nobody, save for a few journalists, was allowed to see it. One reporter who saw it told me if it went public, people would be incensed.

Mixon, his lawyer and Oklahoma had almost 18 months to prepare, but he still came off like a clueless kid avoiding his past. It didn't even appear he'd given this any thought at all. And make no mistake, this was a big deal.

Roughly 45 reporters crowded around his little table to hear him speak while, just a few feet away, head coach Bob Stoops had just four people asking him questions.

"I'm here to answer all football questions and nothing else," Mixon said as an Oklahoma athletic department official sat next to him. When he was asked about hitting the woman, the official would interrupt and say Mixon only wanted to talk about football. At some point, an Orange Bowl official warned any media member asking a non-football question would be escorted away.

This was a nightmare for Oklahoma and also for Mixon. But frankly, it's a nightmare they earned through Mixon's monstrous actions and Oklahoma's decision to let him back on the team. The shocking thing was not so much that Mixon was only willing to talk about football. It wasn't that he was unwilling to talk about the incident so much as he seemed unable to.

At the start of the season, he tweeted that he was dedicating the year to the "haters." He deleted the tweet but said he still feels that way. What did he actually mean by that?

"Y'all knew what I meant by it," he said. "You just blew it out of proportion."

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

What would you have expected from his press conference? What would you have wanted? An apology? You didn't get one.

I think what I wanted was an acknowledgement of the woman's feelings, an understanding that hitting a woman (or anybody) is a monstrous thing and maybe some remorse and evidence of an effort to change. I didn't get any of that.

Asked if he was sorry, Mixon said this: "I won't answer that. Next question."

Look, this isn't as easy as it sounds. In fact, Mixon's press conference was scary. But the debate about whether he should be playing is a valid one. It might be that in letting him play, Oklahoma showed it valued its football team over the women on campus. On the other hand, Mixon did go through the justice system, theoretically he did what he was told and he suffered a season-long suspension. You could argue he has paid for his actions.

If he were my son, I'd be praying that people would give him a second chance. On the other hand, if the woman he punched were my daughter, I'd be heartbroken to see him back, cheered and beloved for helping to lead the Sooners to the College Football Playoff.

The truth is, Mixon is just some kid who did a terrible thing and isn't savvy enough to handle a situation like this press conference. But how could he have been so unprepared for it? His lawyer probably told him not to talk about the incident, and Oklahoma and the Orange Bowl shouldn't have put him in a position that could only have turned out like this: badly.

Couldn't someone have sat down with him, gotten his thoughts and prepared a statement for him to read?

You'd think Mixon would have to live with the consequences of his actions every day, much in the way Ray Rice does.

But nobody will talk about it in any kind of meaningful way. How is he going to change? Mixon's teammate, running back Samaje Perine, told me the team accepted Mixon when he returned and that no one asked him about what he'd done. Did it bother Stoops that so many people wanted to talk to Mixon today?

"No," Stoops said. "He's been a great teammate to everybody, and he's worked hard to get back in this position to have an opportunity to play."

I tried to reach Mixon's victim through her lawyer, but the lawyer did not respond. A professor in the OU women's studies department also did not respond.

Assault isn't a game. It's a real problem, and we keep getting more and more proof of that. If the judge finally allows Mixon's video to be made public, or if someone who has a copy gives it to the media, watch out. The decision-makers who saw it and allowed Mixon to come back—Oklahoma president David Boren, athletic director Joe Castiglione and Stoops—will be in danger of losing their jobs.

The most telling quote of the day came when a reporter asked Mixon if he had any regrets about anything. This is what he said:

"No."

Greg Couch covers college football for Bleacher Report.