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Arkansas' Jeremy Sprinkle tries to put 'embarrassing' shoplifting incident behind him
MOBILE, Ala. — Arkansas tight end Jeremy Sprinkle’s college career ended in an unfortunate way, getting suspended in the days prior to the Belk Bowl. Why he was suspended made the whole situation worse.
Sprinkle was arrested for shoplifting at a Belk Bowl event in which the players were given a $450 gift card to go on a shopping spree at a Belk store. Apparently, that stipend was not enough for Sprinkle, who tried to lift several other items beyond the $450 limit.
“It was really embarrassing,” Sprinkle told Shutdown Corner on Wednesday. “It’s still embarrassing.”
It marked a strange end to a once-promising but uneven career for Sprinkle, who looks the part at 6-foot-4 3/4 and 256 pounds, with 10 5/8-inch hands and an 82-inch wingspan. But his production as a receiver was uneven, as was his blocking, even though he lined up in-line mostly this past season. He also dealt with sprains on both his left and right ankles this season, which left him hobbling quite a bit.
“I sprained the right one against Texas A&M and then two weeks later sprained my left one against Ole Miss,” Sprinkle said. “I was hobbling around, especially the Auburn game. I mean, I was really hobbling. Those injuries stick with you.”
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But bad looks such as the shoplifting incident do, too. Sprinkle apologized in a statement after the incident and he came down to the Senior Bowl with a large dose of humility, knowing that the story and questions would resurface.
“I feel like it was a tough situation to deal with. I just had to be up front and honest with it. It was a mistake I made. It was out of my character,” Sprinkle said.
Asked if he thought the issue would be a big deal for NFL teams during the interview process here, at the Indianapolis scouting combine and in future meetings with teams, Sprinkle guessed it probably would. He’s already heard from teams asking him what happened.
“I feel like it will be a concern and is a concern for them because it did happen and they want to know what happened and will it happen again,” he said. “It’s obviously a worry they have to ask me about. I just have to tell them my side of the story, let them get to know me and let them know that it will never happen again.”
As for the football side of things through two days of practice, well, there has been more uneven. He dropped a pass early in individual work, then jumped offsides in team drills. Sprinkle also believes he has room to grow as a blocker.
“I need to show [NFL scouts] my run blocking and show I can get in there and block down on [defensive] ends and make those combo blocks,” he said. “The reach blocks on the zone stretch plays — they’re all hard and need good technique.”
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If there has been a positive, the one thing that has made Sprinkle comfortable during an uncomfortable time, it has been that the system the Chicago Bears’ coaches have installed this week has been an easy transition for him because of its similarity to what he ran at Arkansas.
“The pro-style system we ran at Arkansas was similar, so it has helped,” Sprinkle said. “A lot of the calls were the same, the route schemes … all very similar. I feel very comfortable with all of this.”
Even while facing embarrassing incidents — after all, practice eventually ends, and that’s when scouts pepper prospects with a quick flurry of questions they want direct answers on. Sprinkle said he has no plans to make excuses for any of it.
“Hey, I did it, so I have to take my [medicine],” Sprinkle said.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
