Like the rest of you, I quickly googled the words "Jonathan Baldwin" shortly after the Kansas City Chiefs selected him in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft. The scouting reports that came back all said basically the same thing: Incredible athlete comes with character concerns.
But, other than a highly-publicized quote from the end of the 2010 college football season, a lot of folks didn't have much evidence that he was really a character concern.
There was the general "doesn't practice hard" or "isn't a team leader" descriptions but nothing concrete about this supposed character concern. Those close to Baldwin have repeatedly said that he's a good teammate and will buy into the Chiefs program.
We're still just a month into his tenure as a Chief, but we have yet to see any signs of character concerns. Instead, Baldwin has been interacting with a lot of fans on Twitter, working out with QB Matt Cassel and even lending a hand in Joplin.
Things can still change. There's no doubt about that. But, since the "Baldwin has character concerns" story will likely linger throughout the 2011 season (whether it's warranted or not), I think it's important to note that first impressions do matter and so far, in Kansas City, Baldwin has been doing the right thing.
What is concerning, though, is his choice of barbecue. So far he's tweeted that he's tried Jack Stack while some would argue that he needs to start trying out Oklahoma Joe's (and specifically, the Z-man).