NFL rejects La'el Collins' request to be pulled from NFL draft
The NFL has rejected a request by former LSU offensive tackle La'el Collins to be pulled from the NFL draft, the league announced Thursday.
Fox Sports' Jay Glazer first reported that Collins' agent was trying to pull his client from the draft and enter him instead in the supplemental draft.
Authorities want to speak with Collins following last week’s shooting death of a pregnant woman in Baton Rouge, La. Police there say Collins is not a suspect in the death.
Glazer reports that "most teams" are requesting a full police report that clears Collins before they are willing to draft him. Collins was projected to be a first-round draft pick after being a first-team All-SEC and second-team AP All-America selection last season at LSU, but NFL.com's Albert Breer reported that several teams wouldn't consider taking him Thursday without a resolution on the case.
Collins left the Chicago, the site of the draft, for Baton Rouge on Wednesday to meet with police, but the meeting is now not scheduled to take place until after the draft.
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On April 24, 29-year-old Brittany Mills was shot and killed. Mills, who was eight-months pregnant at the time of the murder, was believed to have had a relationship with Collins at one time, although police have not determined the nature of the relationship between the two. Mills' child survived the shooting.