Prior to the start of the 2015 NFL Draft, the league denied LSU offensive lineman La'el Collins request to pull out from the draft and just join the supplemental draft.

The player's agent, Deryk Gilmore sent the petition early Thursday pending his client's effort to clear his name from a shooting incident which killed Brittany Mills, a 29-year-old pregnant woman, NFL.com reported.

Collins is set to meet with the Baton Rouge police to discuss details of the incident, NFL.com said, but he will only be able to do so until after the draft is over, according to a tweet by sports reporter Albert Breer.

Authorities investigating the case told Breer that Collins is not a suspect but was only asked for questioning since he knew Mills.

"He's not a suspect, but we are seeking to question him. He knew the victim. We're not sure of the exact nature of the relationship. But for the investigation and through the investigation, we're exhausting all avenues to locate this young lady's killer," Cpl. Don Coppola was quoted in the NFL.com report as saying.

The investigator added that aside from Collins, there are other people who are being called in for questioning. Coppola reportedly stressed that the football player is not singled out but that the authorities are only following standard procedure in their investigation.

NFL.com added that league executives are already aware of the situation. "Included in the note to general managers was information that a woman Collins knew, Mills, was murdered. Mills was pregnant and the baby survived. The police are now trying to determine parental responsibility. The note said that Collins had not contacted Mills since September," the sports site added.

Because of the incident, Collins' being picked in the draft is now in question. This could be the reason why his agent took his chance with the request to pull him out from the draft proper and just include him during the upcoming supplemental draft.

Thursday's first round of the draft was indeed a test on Collins' career as he was not selected despite him being one of those projected to be drafted first.

"A source from one NFC team said his club had removed Collins from its draft board entirely because of the uncertainty, and ESPN reported several other teams had done the same," said the New York Post.

Marcus Peters and Shane Ray became first-round picks even if the league is reportedly keeping tabs of their character issues in the past. Randy Gregory and Missouri receiver Dorial Green-Beckham who were also being closely monitored, were not lucky enough to get through, just like Collins, The New York Post added.

About 2,800 people came to witness the draft at the Auditorium Theater with 50,000 more gathered at the NFL activity boulevard in Chicago, The New York Post observed. League officials were reportedly "shocked and impressed" with the big turnout of people who attended the event.