At some point, Joe Mixon was the bread and butter of the Cincinnati Bengals offense. But his prolific, Super Bowl runner-up tenure had its ups and downs. There were times when he was on the wrong side of the fence with the law, but it was his mother who kept him grounded throughout the tumultuous journey.

It was hard for Alisa Smith, a mother of 6. Smith was a single mother taking care of six kids facing some challenging circumstances. When Mixon played for the Oklahoma Sooners, he was suspended for a season. What happened next is heartbreaking for a mother. Let’s talk about the shared journey of Joe Mixon and his mother Alisa Smith.

Joe Mixon was sorry for causing trouble to his mom

Born on January 14, 1968, Alise (Alisa) Marie Grigsby, is a California native. Mixon’s mother was married to his father, John Mixon but divorced him later. She changed her name to Smith after marrying Ruddie Smith on July 30, 2016, at Grand Sierra Resort, Reno, NV, USA.

“I married my best friend, my ride or die, my lover, my equal! Alisa and Ruddie Smith forever,” said Alisa Smith’s Facebook account. Till that point, she was raising the children on her own. She was happy the day she married her ride-or-die. However, before she had this happy moment in her life, there were some issues with Joe Mixon growing up.

A 5-star recruit coming out of school, Mixon was a phenom. 40 schools like Cal, Florida, and Wisconsin were interested in him, but he chose Oklahoma because “I did what’s best for me and the family by making that move,” said Mixon in 2013. In 2014 when the trouble started. Mixon was accused of assaulting Amelia Molitor in a restaurant in Norman, OK. Things escalated quickly and Mixon was given 100 hours of community service, was put on probation for a year, and was ordered to take counseling. Later in 2016, Mixon apologized for the incident.

“I apologize to my mother. Growing up my mother worked hard, a single parent, two brothers, three sisters, nieces and nephews. … They all look up to me. It is never, never OK to retaliate and hit a woman the way I did. I’m here to apologize to everybody that was affected by it.” Unfortunately, his mother had to watch the tape when Mixon was interrogated by the Norman Police. As hard as the time was, Mixon’s mother thinks that her son has grown.

“As far as me, the mom, my feelings about it, it’s like it’s over it’s done,” Smith told News Oklahoma. “Let’s move on. This is something that happened, unfortunately. However, It’s an isolated situation. I’m quite sure he’s not going to go around hitting on anybody else. This is a lesson learned. He’s grown from it.” The incident was the reason for his gap in 2014. He started playing again in 2015 with the Sooners and later made it to the competitive NFL realm.

Joe Mixon was a different man all of a sudden, until….

Mixon was on top of the world after he was the 48 overall pick in the 2017 draft. He gradually leveled up, and appeared in a Pro Bowl after helping the Bengals reach the Super Bowl against the LA Rams, though the Bengals lost. Everything was fine till August 2023, when Mixon found himself at a crossroads with the law again.

Around Jan 21 last year, Mixon was accused of pulling a gun on a woman. The case was initially dismissed but opened up again in August 2023. Mixon overtook the woman in traffic and there was a confrontation. The RB pulled a gun on her and threatened to shoot her after the road rage.

In February 2023, a Cincinnati Bengals beat reporter Kelsey Conway was trying to reach out to Joe Mixon for a comment. She had an encounter with his mother instead. Mixon’s mother was reported saying, “Did he do it, no he didn’t.” She labeled the woman pressing charges against her son as “money hungry.”

The 4-day, “aggravated menacing” allegation trial led to Mixon being “not guilty” of the charges. Things might be better in the future for Mixon who will be the RB1 for the Houston Texans this year. He’ll play alongside CJ Stroud, Stefon Diggs, Tank Dell, and Nico Collins, the future stars of the franchise. Hopefully, Mixon will be able to dominate the gridiron and make his mother proud.