That Does It: Miami Dolphins Running Back Is Out of a Job

Mark Walton is accused of repeatedly punching his pregnant girlfriend
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 19, 2019 2:22 PM CST
Shocking Allegation Is Last Straw for NFL Player
In this Sept. 8, 2019, file photo, Miami Dolphins running back Mark Walton (22) warms up before an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, in Miami Gardens, Fla.   (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

The Miami Dolphins are done with Mark Walton. The NFL team cut their top running back after police arrested him early Tuesday morning for allegedly pushing his pregnant girlfriend against a wall and punching her several times in the head and face, the Miami Herald reports. She had just told him Sunday she was five weeks pregnant with their child, police say. "We hold our players to a high standard and take these matters very seriously," Dolphins GM Chris Grier says in a tweet. "We will have no further comment at this time." It was the last straw for a 22-year-old athlete who had already wiggled out of drugs, battery, and weapons charges, and was on a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.

Sadly, Walton's career seemed on the upswing. Not only was he the Dolphins' leader in rushing yards (201), average yards-per-carry (3.8), and carries (53), the Miami native had closed the legal cases against him without incurring any additional jail time. It had looked like quite the positive ending for a man arrested for alleged marijuana use, battery, and possession of a rifle in his rental car, and his NFL suspension was set to end after the team's Dec. 1 game. But like the Cincinnati Bengals before them, the Dolphins had to cut a talented player who "may have just forced himself out of the NFL for good," says CBS Sports. (The hiring of an alleged domestic abuser got ugly for one MLB team.)

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