A former NFL wide receiver says he's not a deadbeat dad like his former girlfriend claims. He now has to convince a judge of that.
A federal judge issued an arrest warrant for Andre Rison earlier this week, which states he's missed child support payments and violated his probation. He was ordered in 2013 to pay more than $300,000 of restitution in back child support to Racquel Blanks, who is the mother of Rison's son Hunter.
Hunter Rison is a high school senior and now reportedly lives with his father in Ann Arbor. The younger Rison has verbally committed to play at Michigan State, where Andre also played in college.
Andre Rison admits to eating marijuana candy to help alleviate pain from lingering football injuries. He claims he can't afford to pay the child support because he now earns less than $15,000 a year. But he says he's been a good father.
"I'm just tired," Rison told the Detriot Free Press. "Here I am, being looked at like a hardcore criminal... I'm trying to do the right thing. My mistake was made years ago, and I'm still under this microscope."
Blanks paints a different picture. She says Rison didn't start paying any child support until 2011 and had no part in his son's life for years while she raised him.
"He told me he was going to continue to pay that and be right — and he didn't, " Blanks said. "He didn't follow through... He needs to stop going to people and making himself out to be a victim when he's not."
Rison, who played for Green Bay and Kansas City among other teams, says he and his son have formed a good relationship.
