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Though Houston Texans star Laremy Tunsil is an important piece to the offensive line and is one of the more effective tackles in the league, he could be more well-known for his NFL Draft experience. While Tunsil now protects Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, he was originally drafted by the Miami Dolphins, and the journey there was interesting, to say the least.
Tunsil was the 13th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, but to most, he slipped down because of a video leaked of him wearing a gas mask and smoking marijuana. That moment would be connected to him til this day when he even said to ESPN that there is a “chip on my shoulder” because of it.
“To this day, I still have that chip on my shoulder just to prove everybody wrong. … It just showed everyone I do make mistakes, but that's not who I am,” Tunsil told ESPN. “So that was just one part of the journey. But I want the gold jacket. I want to be known as one of the best ever. ”
The Ole Miss product was a top prospect going into the draft, where if it wasn't for his social media being hacked, he could have gone much higher. Tunsil spoke about originally checking his phone while waiting to be drafted and not knowing why he had so many notifications.
“I just picked my phone up to see what time it was,” Tunsil said via ESPN. “It was comments from everybody. So when I saw it, I just put it down.”
“I was panicking a little bit, and I'm just like ‘Don't let my mom and my auntie see this,'” Tunsil continued. “How can we get this cleaned up and remove this as fast as possible?”
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Texans' Laremy Tunsil on video still being attached to him
Tunsil would eventually be drafted by the Dolphins with the 13th overall pick, where he turned out to be a productive offensive lineman in protecting the blindside of quarterbacks and opening up running lanes. One would think that the teams that passed up on him are beating themselves up over it, but ESPN's NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. would say that it was going to impact him no matter what.
“We knew it was going to affect him,” Kiper said. “But we were all wondering how far it would push him down the board. The Ravens could have been a landing spot at No. 6, but they took [left tackle] Ronnie Stanley. When Baltimore passed, I remember thinking, ‘OK, now we could see a slide.'” Still, Tunsil remains a crucial part of the Texans as he was eventually traded from the Dolphins for a bevy of first-round picks. The 30-year-old would express that the moment “didn't slow me down.”
“It just showed everyone I do make mistakes, but that's not who I am,” Tunsil said. “So that was just one part of the journey. I don't really just look at it crazy. It's always going to be attached to me. When my son gets a little older, I got to tell him what happened. But it didn't slow me down.”
The team is 9-5, which puts them at the top of the AFC South as the Texans next face the Kansas City Chiefs.
