re: Arden Key says Saints will bring him in for a private visit

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He left the LSU football team — his own decision, his father said — for about four months, taking a leave of absence for what the school termed “personal reasons.”

The reasons remain a mystery. No one will comment on them publicly, something that’s led to speculation and rumor. Arden Key Sr. declined to specifically address them Friday. Key Jr. has been unavailable for interviews this fall.

“Let the past be the past,” Key Sr. said. “All those rumors are going to surface through his career. As a family, we had challenges and we worked through them, and we’re still working through them.”

His son’s issues evolved from his “instant success” in football, he said. It resulted in Arden Jr.’s life becoming unbalanced.

“It was time to take time away from football,” Key Sr. said. “He lost himself. He had so much success early. All the pressures of being a student-athlete. We forget he’s still a kid trying to balance life out. It was all coming down on him.”

His son spent his time away from football at home, Arden Key Sr. said, staying with his mother in Atlanta. He “reconnected” with the family, removing himself from that bright spotlight.

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He almost lost the game, his father says.

“I never thought his football career was in jeopardy, but he needed to take time so it wouldn’t put his career in jeopardy,” his dad said.

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Again, give me something concrete on Key. Even after the combine all we heard was he interviewed impressively.

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LSU edge rusher Arden Key said that he was "star-struck" when he shook the hand of San Francisco 49ers GM John Lynch.

"He was calm in the meeting room, trying to get to know me, very dialed in and looking at me in the eye the whole time," Key said. The 6-foot-5, 238-pounder called the San Fran duo of Lynch and HC Kyle Shanahan "impressive." How NFL teams are viewing Key, however, is less certain. The edge rusher said that when speaking at the combine, squads were "blown away" by his explanation for a leave of absence which he took from LSU last spring. That can be read for better or worse. Definitely for worse, Draft Analyst's Tony Pauline has been hearing that Key "left a bad taste" with his interviews and that he's been sliding down draft boards.

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Draft insider Tony Pauline reports LSU edge rusher Arden Key "left a bad taste" in the mouths of teams at the NFL Combine.

Pauline says Key continues to "drop down draft boards" after not participating in the 40 or bench press. Who knows how Key performed in meetings with NFL teams, but that likely was the focus of his week since he had many questions to answer. Key did come in at a favorable playing weight at 238 pounds.

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Those are Key's words, not the words of coaches or GMs. Try again Less Tard.

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that is a report from Ian Rappaport

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“I tell ’em the real,” he said of his meetings with NFL teams. “I tell them that was my biggest adversity. I went through it and I passed it, and I’m looking forward.”

Key said that teams have been receptive to his explanation.

“They respond in a good way,” Key said. “I surprised a lot of them. ‘Cause a lot of them don’t know what happened. I tell them what happened. I tell them what I played a part in, and they’re surprised. They’re blown away.”

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“No comment,” he said when directly asked.

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