METAIRIE, La. (AP) -Anthony Hargrove’s friends thought he was asking for trouble – yet again – when he rejoined the NFL in New Orleans, of all places.
Hargrove doesn’t hide that he is a recovering alcoholic, and he recently served a yearlong NFL suspension for being a three-time violator of the league’s substance abuse policy.
So when the 6-foot-3, 295-pound defensive lineman resumed his football career in the home of Mardi Gras revelry, French Quarter bars that stay open all night, and drive-through daiquiris stands, some saw it as a dubious decision.
“This is the last place you’d think I’d want to go,” Hargrove said. “People were like, ‘Man, you could get alcohol anywhere.’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t have to drink it.”’
ions with their behavior off of it. So their decision to sign Hargrove, who flunked out of Georgia Tech before entering the 2004 draft, also was a curious one.
“The thing that impressed me most when we talked to him, knowing all the problems – it wasn’t that he said, ‘I’m going to do better.’ He had a plan of how he was going to do better,” defensive line coach Bill Johnson said after practice on Friday. “He had a plan of how he was going to live his life. He’s got a routine and he’s worked hard to change his life. And bless his heart, I’m so proud of him it’s unbelievable.”
Drafted in the third round by St. Louis, Hargrove made significant strides in his football career during his second season, when he started 15 games. His 6 1/2 sacks ranked second on the club.
Early in the 2006 season, however, he lost his starting job after skipping two days of practice and meetings. Soon after, he was traded to Buffalo for a 2007 fifth-round draft pick.
The outgoing Hargrove was a popular special teams contributor and backup defensive end in Buffalo, and might have rebuilt his career there had he not gotten in trouble again.
ice after he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.
He was reinstated two months later, but the NFL announced in January 2008 that he’d be suspended a full year for another violation of league policy. To get back in the league, he’s had to pass drug tests for a year. He also gets regular counseling.
“Honestly, I wish I would have learned sooner or understood it, but you know, it’s part of growing up,” said Hargrove, 26, after a recent Saints practice. “Some of us mature very fast. Some of us, it takes time.”
Johnson said he prefers to think of Hargrove as a success story already, given his trying childhood in a tough neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y.
By the time Hargrove was 9, his father died in a fire and his mother had died of AIDS. He was homeless at times and in foster care at others before being adopted by an aunt.
“I had some things as a child that wasn’t taught to me, so I was kind of learning on the run … making some bad decisions and getting maybe too many free passes,” Hargrove said. “Finally, when the law of the land came down on me, I was kind of forced to make a decision, but I had to realize I had to keep that decision. It wasn’t one of those things where I’m going to do it today, but not tomorrow.”
e, Johnson had confidence in him, having worked him out back when Hargrove was leaving Georgia Tech and Johnson was still an assistant coach with the Atlanta Falcons.
“His measurables were very impressive and they haven’t changed,” Johnson said. “He’s a tremendous athlete. If you just watch him, he’s explosive. He’s got a tremendous desire to be good.”
Then there’s the possibility of starting defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant being forced to serve four-game suspensions because they tested positive last year for a banned diuretic that can be used to mask steroids.
If Smith and Grant are out for the first four regular-season games, Hargrove could find himself playing a major role right away at end or tackle.
“He’s doing well,” Saints head coach Sean Payton said. “He’s in real good shape. He’s active. He’s disruptive. He’s a pain to block.”
New Orleans coaches are pulling for Hargrove partly because they could use his help, partly because they like the idea of giving a reformed substance abuser a chance to succeed, and partly because they like him.
“Take football out of it,” Johnson said. “He and I have gone out to dinner and not said a word about football. He’s a pretty neat guy. He’s smart, you know? Instead of being mad about all the things he’s had to go through, I think he’s thankful.”
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