NFL Update: Denver Broncos’ Laurence Maroney arrested on weapon and drug charges
Laurence Maroney was arrested early Tuesday morning for carrying an illegal weapon and drugs in St Louis, his hometown.
The Denver Broncos running back and three other men were occupying a vehicle that police pulled over for unknown reasons. Upon being searched, it was discovered that the occupants were carrying illegal firearms and were also charged with drug possession.
The 25 year old high school star was drafted by the New England Patriots in the first round, pick number 21 in the 2006 NFL Draft. He rushed for 86 yards in his first NFL game in the regular season opener and then ran for 125 yards and two touchdowns three
weeks later. For that performance, he received two player of the week awards. He was then voted special teams’ player of the week after a kickoff return for 74 yards, which he beat in Week 8 of the 2006 season with a 77 yard draft. His total for 2006 was an
amazing 783 yards of kick returns alone.
However, his 2007 and 2008 seasons were marred by injuries. In 2007, he missed three games with a groin injury, but still had 835 rushing yards in the Pats’ undefeated season. In the 2008 season, he was placed on injured reserve on October 20 with a shoulder
injury, more specifically a broken bone. He had only 93 rushing yards for that season.
In 2009, he started in five games and played in 15. He averaged 3.9 yards per carry with 757 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.
He was then traded to the Denver Broncos in the start of the 2010 season after being inactive for the Pats’ first game of the season against the Cincinnati Bengals, which they won. He and a sixth round pick for the 2011 draft were traded for a fourth round
pick. Pretty sad to be traded for a draft pick and a fourth round one at that.
However, the University of Minnesota running back was much more appreciated in high school and college. He played football, basketball, baseball, and even ran track. He holds the record for most rushing yards in a single season with 1,903 at Normandy High
School.
In college, he started in only 14 games out of 36 during his three years at Minnesota. However, he still rushed for over 1,000 yards in all three of his first seasons. He had a total of 3,933 rushing yards with the Golden Gophers and was also selected as
an All American in 2005.
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