In a letter published Friday in the Cincinnati Enquirer, Bengals owner and president Mike Brown addressed why the team drafted Joe Mixon, writing the "risk has an upside as well as a downside" despite the "terrible thing" Mixon did in college.

The controversial running back, who was the subject of national attention after he was shown punching and knocking out a woman on camera, was drafted by the Bengals at No. 48 overall in the second round of the NFL draft last week. Mixon was pegged by many draft analysts to be a Day 2 pick despite questions about his character following the incident, which occurred in July 2014 prior to his freshman season at Oklahoma.

Brown's letter comes three days after a Cincinnati-based advocacy group called on the Bengals to take a stand against domestic violence and sexual assault.

"We expect businesses in our great city, and this includes sports teams, to place a high value on speaking out against both domestic violence and sexual assault," Kristin Smith-Shrimplin, president and CEO of Women Helping Women, told The Associated Press.

Oklahoma suspended Mixon for a season for punching Amelia Molitor, a fellow Oklahoma student, after a brief confrontation at a restaurant. Molitor suffered fractured bones in her face, according to The Associated Press. Video of the incident wasn't made public until after a judge ordered the release of security videos in December 2016.

Mixon, 20, completed one year of probation, 100 hours of community service and behavioral counseling as part of a plea agreement to a misdemeanor assault charge, according to court records. Last week, a settlement was reached in the civil lawsuit Molitor filed against Mixon, according to the Associated Press. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

"This is definitely going to be attached to my name the rest of my life and the end of the day I'm going to do whatever I can to move forward and move past it," Mixon told NFL Network's Judy Battista last week after being drafted. "Just keep playing and I look forward to having a great career here and being the best teammate and person possible."

Was the same with Ray Rice, she hit him first in that case also. It should be assault either way, whether man hitting woman or woman hitting man. If these groups like the one in this article are really serious about being against domestic violence, they need to be against it when woman commit it also. Just wait, it won't be long before we end up with cases dealing with transgender and that will really throw a wrench in.

I also think people miss the opportunity to use the incident positively. If he disappeared, so does the story. As long as he is in the public eye, domestic abuse can be discussed.

Originally Posted by: PackFanWithTwins 

It's NEVER right to strike a woman.

Originally Posted by: Cheesey 

Why? What is so special about having a vagina that it makes someone immune from the normal rules of human interaction? Why must a man wait until he is literally in danger of losing his life to defend himself?

Don't say "because women are weaker" because a) that's sexist and not always true; and b) if a weaker individual is stupid enough to instigate a physical altercation, he or she probably deserves to have the shit beat out of them. It's a good life lesson to learn.

Originally Posted by: Nonstopdrivel 

Why? What is so special about having a vagina that it makes someone immune from the normal rules of human interaction? Why must a man wait until he is literally in danger of losing his life to defend himself?

Don't say "because women are weaker" because a) that's sexist and not always true; and b) if a weaker individual is stupid enough to instigate a physical altercation, he or she probably deserves to have the shit beat out of them. It's a good life lesson to learn.

Originally Posted by: Nonstopdrivel