In the build up to this evening's NFL draft in Texas, former Wyoming quarter-back Josh Allen was being touted as a potential first-round pick.
An exciting prospect for the 21-year-old from California, the pre-draft hysteria was duly stunted when an investigation of Allen's Twitter account revealed an array of racially insensitive tweets.
Carried out by Yahoo Sports, Allen's inflammatory remarks date from his time as a high-school student; at least two years before he enrolled as a student in Wyoming.
With each NFL organisation staking their hopes on a certain amount of known and unknown details, the incident sparked an immediate apology from Allen, keen no doubt to halt the swell of negativity surrounding this eleventh-hour revelation.
Beyond the troubling nature of the comments themselves, one ESPN journalist has hinted at a more Machiavellian element to the timing of their release.
A theory two people in the past hour now have floated: another team plotted to have Josh Allen’s racially insensitive tweets put out just before the draft in order to increase the chances he would fall in the draft to that team.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 26, 2018
Given the intense interest in acquiring Allen's services, Adam Schefter has touched on the possibility that the surfacing of these tweets was timed with the intention of damaging the quarter-back's reputation.
Sufficiently enough, perhaps, that he will slip a little further down the draft, and into the grasp of an organisation incapable of claiming Allen via traditional means.
Only a theory, how this evening's draft plays out should demonstrate at least the effect that this revelation has had on the immediate perception of Allen.
