MIAMI _ I'll always remember the final words Mark Walton said to me before his Dolphins career _ and potentially his NFL career _ ended with his early morning Tuesday arrest for allegedly beating his pregnant girlfriend.
"It was bad," he said of being arrested three times and then released by the Cincinnati Bengals in April before the Dolphins gave him a chance to salvage his career, and in many ways, his life.
"It was terrible at one point. But it's turned around now."
And Walton said this, too: Everything he had done, in six-plus months as a Dolphin, has been about gaining the team's "trust and showing them what type of guy I am. I am not the type of guy off the field that would be a (problem)."
That all rings hollow now, and let's first make this perfectly clear: There was only one victim Tuesday, and that's the unidentified girlfriend who, according to police, was pushed "against a wall" by Walton "and punched several times in the head and face," leaving the victim with swelling on her left eye. Police said she was five weeks pregnant with their child, and had told Walton about the pregnancy Sunday.
If found guilty, Walton must be held accountable for behavior that can only be described as repulsive and reprehensible.
But this is a tragedy on many levels. Walton could have been the feel-good story of this Dolphins season and for years to come, a hometown kid _ via Booker T. Washington High and the University of Miami _ who was given a second chance to turn his life around after spring arrests for battery (after arguing about a parking situation), reckless driving, marijuana possession and carrying a concealed weapon.
In October, I spoke with Walton about his quest for redemption, about how he had tried to change his life, before the start of his four-game suspension resulting from those three offseason arrests.
"I'm making smarter decisions," he said. "Not just going out and doing what I want to do; thinking about what's the right way to do it. Do what you want to do, but if you want to go out and have fun with your family, do it the right way. You don't have to be out there hanging out until 3, 4 in the morning."
He said he went back "to my college routine, ending the night early." He also decided to spend more time at the NFL facility, where typically nothing bad can happen.
"Lately, I've been taking advantage of this building, trying to utilize every aspect of this building," he said. "I'm home more with my family (including a 2-year-old daughter, Ma'Lani Nicole Walton) ... I head home and that's it."
He spoke about receiving the April call from Bengals coach Zac Taylor informing him that he had been cut, and how his girlfriend lifted his spirits.
It was not immediately clear if that was the same girlfriend who was the victim in Tuesday morning's alleged domestic incident.
"I was prepared for the worst (but) it was still shocking," Walton said of the April 6 call from Taylor, informing him he had been released after three offseason arrests, a year after Cincinnati drafted him in the fourth round.
"When I got the phone call, I thought about it on my (Miami) property," he said. "I was like, 'Wow, reality hit me. It's crashing in.'"
Then he went outside to speak to his girlfriend.
Walton said "she was supporting me,said keep my head up and keep working and she said 'I'm not turning my back on you. Just do what you have to do and I believe in you.' That's what I've been doing, keeping her trust.'"
"After I got released, I took a whole evaluation of who I want to be, what I want to do, and what I strongly believe," he said. "It changed me as a person. That was a wakeup call when I got that phone call."
He spoke of a life filled with tragedy _ the death of his father when he was 7, the death of his mother two years ago, and the deaths of his grandmother and older brother when he was teenager.
"All I've been through, all the adversity, made me be reliable and accountable _ made me grow as a man," he told me last month.
After his release from the Bengals, Walton's agent, Malki Kawa, smartly called Dolphins general manager Chris Grier and told him he should consider signing Walton. When Grier mentioned participating in rookie minicamp May 8-10, Kawa and Walton quickly agreed.
"Sign me up," Walton said. "Let's do it. Malki said, 'You know you got to be with rookies.' I said I'm fine with that, whatever I have to do to show this coaching staff what I'm about to make this team, I'm all for it."
Walton impressed Brian Flores and the staff enough to earn a contract, and the move worked for awhile. Walton did everything asked of him by the Dolphins, won the starting job, ran for 201 yards on 3.8 per carry and looked to have his life back on track.
And then Tuesday happened.
Again, there's only one victim here _ the woman that Walton allegedly battered. All of your compassion should be directed toward her.
But there's also sadness that Walton couldn't stay out of trouble, couldn't follow through on his vow to change his life and couldn't complete what could have been a wonderful story of redemption. It was a once-in-a-lifetime career opportunity squandered.
And a tragedy, on so many levels.
