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Laremy Tunsil doesn't want to discuss what happened during draft

While the rest of the NFL world was still in shock over Laremy Tunsil's draft-day drama, the Miami Dolphins were smiling at their good fortune.

If there was any concern over Tunsil's bong video or the Instagram hack that led to the release of text messages that appear to show Tunsil asking an Ole Miss coach for money, the Dolphins never showed it during a news conference Friday. Tunsil didn't either, because he wouldn't talk about it.

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In yet another episode of Tunsil's crazy 24 hours, the Dolphins said he had an allergic reaction after spending a few hours at their facility. So Tunsil wasn't at his introductory news conference at the scheduled time on Friday. Given all the drama Tunsil has been through over the draft, it led to a lot of cynicism about the reason given for his absence.

But Tunsil showed up a little later, looking healthy, and refused to talk about the events of draft day.

"I don’t know nothing about that," Tunsil said to a question about who might have hacked his accounts. "I’m here to talk about the Miami Dolphins." 

He continued that refrain when asked if the text messages were real, repeating "I'm here to talk about the Miami Dolphins." He repeated that a couple more times. He did say at one point he has "no character issues at all." A question about how crazy the previous night was met with a positive response.

"It’s been good to me, man," Tunsil said. "I’m drafted, I’m in the NFL, so I’m happy."

Laremy Tunsil (AP)
Laremy Tunsil (AP)

The Dolphins brass isn't expressing the same shock everyone else was about Tunsil's draft drama. They couldn't believe a player like Tunsil, once speculated to be a possibility for the first pick of the draft, was there for them to take at 13th overall.

"This is a guy we felt like was one of the better players in this draft class, if not the best guy," Dolphins coach Adam Gase said. "For him to fall to us at 13, it was a no-brainer."

Sometimes the amount of preparation teams put into the draft seems a little silly, but it paid off for Miami. Even though it had to seem like a long shot that Tunsil would be available to the Dolphins at No. 13, they had done their homework, including talking to former coaches about his character. And they said they knew about the now infamous video. They kept using the word "comfortable" to explain how they felt about taking Tunsil despite some red flags.

"We talked to everyone from his high school coaches, his college coaches, we met with him," Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said. "We had all the information on this player, from February on."

Grier said Thursday night that Tunsil was the second-ranked player on their board. Gase said there was no hesitation to make the pick when the Dolphins went on the clock. After the Tennessee Titans traded up to the eighth pick and passed Tunsil, Gase said, "That’s when a couple of us sat up, got a little interested." All of the preparation ultimately paid off. Dolphins executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum said the entire organization was on board with the pick, all the way up to owner Stephen Ross.

"When he’s there and it’s our turn, we were ready to go," Tannenbaum said.

Everyone was still talking about Tunsil and his social media problems on Friday, but none of that seemed to matter at Dolphins headquarters. Whatever has happened in Tunsil's past, the Dolphins don't think it will impact his NFL career in the future. And it might not; think back to how much time was wasted wondering if Manti Te'o would ever be accepted in an NFL locker room after his fake girlfriend madness.

The Dolphins just feel like they got a steal with the 13th pick of the draft. Maybe they did.

"There are things out there, look, I’m sure he’s going to learn from and obviously mistakes were made, but our decision was based on the player and a big body of work," Tannenbaum said. "We fell back on a great process. We felt like it was a great opportunity for us, and what he does moving forward is most important."

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!