Christian Kirk, a former standout at Scottsdale Saguaro and Texas A&M who was drafted in the second round by the Cardinals, was arrested almost two months before the draft as he was leaving the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Kirk and some friends were seen throwing rocks at cars outside the golf tournament on Feb. 3. He was charged with criminal damage and the case is pending.
According to Scottsdale Police: "The suspects were intoxicated and leaving the WMPO. As they were walking through a parking lot, security personnel observed them throwing rocks at cars and breaking a window of at least one of them."
A Cardinals spokesman said the team was aware of the incident prior to drafting Kirk.
“We spoke with Christian about it at length and also looked into it independently. Our understanding is that the process will be resolved in the near future but while it remains an active legal matter, we won’t comment further.”
Kirk, the 47th overall pick on April 27, joined the Cardinals for rookie minicamp May 11-13 and is expected to attend organized team activities (OTAs) on Tuesday through Thursday.
In post-draft press conferences, General Manager Steve Keim said the Cardinals paid special attention this year to character when drafting players. There were no reports of Kirk ever getting into trouble in high school or college.
New coach Steve Wilks has said several times that he wants players who possess the right DNA.
“We don’t want a bunch of choir boys, I’m not saying that,” Wilks said recently. “But we want to make sure we got quality football players coming into the building. We’re not going to worry about getting a phone call in the middle of the morning that someone out in Scottsdale is doing something crazy.”
