The Cleveland Browns have the structure to help Antonio Callaway keep his life in order, general manager John Dorsey said after the team selected the troubled University of Florida wide receiver in the fourth round Saturday.
Callaway tested positive for marijuana at the NFL combine. He was also suspended all of last season by the Gators for allegedly using stolen credit card information to fund bookstore accounts, and he was cited in May 2017 for misdemeanor marijuana possession and possession of drug equipment during a traffic stop.
He was cleared of sexual assault allegations by a Title IX hearing officer in August 2016.
"I've always said this very humbly," Dorsey said. "It's not our job to have people leave as [a] good player. It's our job to have people leave as good people as well. So that's where it is."
Callaway's new agent, Malki Kawa, said Tuesday that 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, the 105th overall pick in the draft, 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."
The @Browns just got the best receiver in the draft. I can't thank god enough and to the Cleveland Brown organization thank you for believing in me! Y'all know what time it is😈❗️❗️❗️❗️
— A.D (@Ripbobby_G) April 28, 2018
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.
Dorsey said he was "excited to get a guy of this caliber and this talent at the round we thought."
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."
"We have done extensive, I mean extensive background work here," Dorsey said. "We've actually had to 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 and where those things you were talking, what levels they're at. I feel very comfortable, we are, to make a move like this."
Dorsey said a player's character is important to the Browns.
"If you sit there and understand his situations and his life story, you can see a guy that strives to like, actually loves 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."