Eagles Camp Spotlight: Dorial Green-Beckham’s Checkered Past

By Patrick Del Gaone, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 

Statistics show that newly-acquired Eagles wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham is among the most outstanding players in the history of high school football in the United States. Despite his success on the field, evidence suggests Green-Beckham has committed egregious acts of violence against multiple women during his time as a student-athlete at the University of Missouri.

In his senior season of 2011-12, "DGB" set the high school national career receiving yards record with an astounding 6,356 yards during his tenure catching passes for the Hillcrest Hornets in Springfield, Mo.

Green-Beckham’s gaudy career statistics include 300 receptions for a remarkable 74 receiving touchdowns. The imposing wideout averaged over 21 yards per catch and a whopping 135 yards per game while at Hillcrest High School.

The Hornet coaching staff knew they had a future phenom when Green-Beckham surpassed 800 yards and tallied 12 receiving scores as a freshman, but it was his sophomore year when "DGB" separated himself from the rest of the all-star underclassman in Greene County, Mo. Green-Beckham more than doubled his yardage output from his freshman year with 1,616 yards on 66 catches and 23 touchdown receptions at the spry age of 16.

Green-Beckham was the top-ranked football recruit in the country in 2012 according to Rivals.com, and was the first wide receiver to ever win the Hall Trophy, the Heisman of high school football in the United States. College football recruiting analyst Tom Lemming had a tremendously high grade for the heralded Hillcrest Hornet.

"He's the best receiving prospect since Randy Moss," Lemming said. 

Having already solidified himself as one of the most decorated athletes in the state of Missouri through three seasons, "DGB" had his sights set on the national receiving yardage record heading into his final season at Hillcrest high school.

Green-Beckham would haul in 119 passes for a monumental 2,233 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns, exceeding the national yardage record for a receiver in October of 2011. The illustrious blue-chip recruit eventually committed to the University of Missouri in a nationally-televised ceremony over schools including Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, the crème de le crème of college football programs.

It was at this point when Green-Beckham began to deviate from the beaten path.

During his freshman season at Missouri, "DGB" and two other teammates were arrested after being found with a small amount of marijuana by university police. Green-Beckham would later plead guilty to a lesser charge of trespassing. The talented pass catcher would again be arrested in early 2014 after having been found with a pound of marijuana following a traffic stop, and was originally charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. Soon after, Green-Beckham was released without charges after evidence indicated the drugs belonged to another passenger.

Three months later, Mizzou head coach Gary Pinkel kicked Green-Beckham off the team after he allegedly forced himself into an apartment with such force that "the door knob went through the drywall," according to police reports. The report also states that the 6'5", 237-pound football player made his way through the apartment looking for his girlfriend and "with two hands" shoved a female down a flight of stairs.

Text messages obtained by the Columbia police department between the Green-Beckham’s girlfriend and the female victim shed light on even more volatile behavior that night, as well as an attempted cover up by the Missouri coaching staff: "I understand how upset you are. I am too – he drug me out by my neck and hurt me too… we just need to move quickly on this [deciding to not press charges] before he’s arrested and before his warrant is public. He will be kicked out of Mizzou and the[n] not qualify for the draft next year. The coaches talked to me and explained to [m]e how serious this is and there’s no time to waste at this point."

The female victim would ultimately decide not to pursue charges against the star football player, but not before giving the following statement to the Columbia police.

"I was afraid of the media and community backlash since Green-Beckham is a football player of the University of Missouri and is possibly going to be in the NFL draft soon," the female victim said. "I was afraid of being harassed and having her property damaged just because she was the victim."

Green-Beckham was drafted 40th overall by the Titans in 2015, producing 32 receptions for 549 yards and four touchdowns during his rookie year. Tennessee shipped Green-Beckham to Philadelphia on Tuesday for career backup offensive lineman Dennis Kelly, citing consistency issues with the second-year receiver after he reported to camp out of shape.

Despite the heinous evidence against Green-Beckham’s character, Eagles executive vice president Howie Roseman believes the skilled receiver is worth the risk.

"He’s made mistakes, but he’s a good-hearted kid," Roseman said. "He has the right intentions. He’s not a locker room cancer at all. All positive feedback."

The Eagles promoted Brian Dawkins to a full-time position — Football Operations Executive — to help Green-Beckham and other players with issues off the field. Only time will tell if the proficient wide receiver will rectify his deficient reputation.

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