INDIANAPOLIS -- Before Cam Newton faced the cameras, microphones, recorders and notebooks, it was Ryan Mallett's turn, and he had the added burden of dealing with drug use allegations that have been raised recently. He chose to sidestep the issue and let it stay between him and the teams interviewing him, other than to say he has laughed them off and hinted that "obviously, somebody did it for a reason, right before the combine, right before the draft."
But just as he seemed to be finding his rhythm in his answers and touted the quality of competition he faced in the Southeastern Conference as another plus, he was pressed a little more on the allegations and how he's dealing with them and he insisted he wasn't going to talk about them anymore. His session came to an abrupt end when another reporter tried to explain that the questions aren't going to go away until he gives a definitive answer as he said he didn't want to and walked off.
At 6-foot-7 and 253 pounds, Mallett is slightly bigger than Newton (6-5, 248) and has perhaps the biggest arm of all of the quarterbacks. Some scouts have been concerned about his accuracy, but he shot back that the fact that he has thrown for more than 7,000 yards and 60 touchdowns in two seasons should speak for itself. He also claimed he can throw the ball more than 80 yards.
"My strength as a person and as a quarterback is my mental game," said Mallett, who added that he emulates Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. "Knowing defenses and recognizing what they're going to do on third down and distance, that's my strength."
Unfortunately for Mallett, all of the tight spirals and long bombs in the world aren't going to prevent the teams from grilling him on these rumors, and they won't stop the media from bringing them up.
Article source - http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2011/02/26/ryan-mallett-miffed-about-questions-concerning-drug-use-allegati/
