Troubled wide receiver Antonio Callaway, who tested positive for marijuana at the NFL combine after numerous legal issues at the University of Florida, was selected by the Cleveland Browns with the 105th overall draft pick Saturday.
"I feel very comfortable where we are as an organization," Browns general manager John Dorsey said about the pick Saturday. "We have done extensive, I mean extensive background work here [on Callaway]. We've actually had go down to Gainesville. We've actually had people go to certain areas just to find out all about the specifics of the situation and we feel very good about where we are and where he is. ... I feel very comfortable, we are, to make a move like this."
In addition to his positive test at the combine, Callaway was suspended all of last season by the Gators for allegedly using stolen credit card information to fund bookstore accounts and was cited in May 2017 for misdemeanor marijuana possession and possession of drug equipment during a traffic stop.
Callaway was cleared of sexual assault allegations by a Title IX hearing officer in August 2016.
Callaway's new agent, Malki Kawa, said Tuesday the positive test at the combine was for a diluted sample, which is treated as a positive test result under the NFL's Policy and Program on Substances of Abuse.
"The main thing is, I take responsibility for everything I caused on myself, the things that could've been avoided," Callaway told NFL Network. "And the birth of my daughter, she changed my point of view on life. On everything. I'm just letting teams know I'm coming to work when I get the chance."
Kawa did not represent Callaway during the combine; he was hired two weeks ago. Shortly after Callaway was informed that he tested positive, he and his former agent, Melvin Bratton, parted ways.
Callaway was viewed by some teams as a potential second-day pick, and that was only because of his previous incidents off the field.
"Character is important," Dorsey said. "I think it's a case-by-case basis and you sit and meet individuals and then you begin to understand what they are as people. If you sit there and understand his situations and his life story, you can see a guy that strives to like, actually love the game of football. But he likes structure, he likes routine and as long as you can ... you can see that there's a degree of humility with this person.
"So you have to do your risk tolerance and say, 'OK, where are we here?' And I thought this was the appropriate level to kind of make a move like this."
Callaway was never criminally charged for the sexual assault allegations, which were made in December 2015 by a female student at the University of Florida. The woman and her witnesses boycotted the hearing because the university appointed an attorney who was also a Gators football booster to hear the case.
According to the hearing officer's ruling, Callaway testified that he was "high on marijuana" during the encounter with the woman and stated that he was "so stoned I had no interest in having sex with anyone."
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