National Football League: Tennessee Titans’ Chris Simms Drugs Scandal, Robaire Smith Gun Possession
Friday was a busy day for NFL stars. Tennessee Titans’ backup quarterback, Chris Simms, was apparently arrested driving through the streets of New York high as a kite.
Simms was stopped by the police at around 1:30 am in Manhattan. The police officers noted that the driver had “red eyes, flushed face and slurred speech” and had the smell of marijuana on him. Simms, according to the police, told them that he had been smoking marijuana. Subsequently, he was charged with operating a vehicle while impaired.
His lawyer stringently denied the accusation and said that Simms had told the police that he had been smoking earlier and not that he was smoking marijuana. His lawyer, Nathan Semmel, considered the allegations ‘absurd’ considering the fact that his eight months pregnant wife was in the car at the time.
Simms could have simply pleaded guilty and gotten off with a 5000 dollars fine and 3 days of community service. He refused to take the plea and now stands to face a year in prison if found guilty of the misdemeanor charge. “I think it speaks for itself,” his lawyer said. For his sake and the sake of his already troubled career, let’s hope that he is indeed not guilty. No drugs were found on Simms or in his car.
His lawyers said that the smell of marijuana might be attributed to the two other passengers in the car, who have not yet been identified. The police, however, said that there was no one else in the car except Simms and his wife.
NFL drug tests can detect the presence of marijuana in the urine for weeks after use. The issue could be settled by a simple drug test. The NFL cannot conduct an immediate drug test but their policy does allow the NFL to place players in different stages of testing based on behavior. Simms can be sure that he would have to submit to more drug tests in the future.
If he still has a future, this conviction could very likely end Simms’ fragile career. Following the arrest, Simms was released without bail after the arraignment and scheduled to appear in court in August. The New York Police had enough reason to make the arrest, but a conviction would need more evidence than bloodshot eyes and being a little out of it. There is no physical evidence and Simms said that the case against him was “very weak.”
Simms was signed on a one year contract with the Titans to back up quarterbacks Vince Young and Kerry Collins. The Titans issued a statement saying they were following up and gathering more information. Two other Titan players also got involved with the law in the last month.
Elsewhere, the Cleveland Brown’s defensive lineman, Robaire Smith, who in a stroke of infinite genius decided to pack a loaded gun in his luggage as he tried to board a flight last November at the Bishop Airport, is also being charged by prosecutors. The gun was detected by an x-ray machine in his luggage. Prosecutors said that while the gun was loaded, there were at least no rounds in the chamber. The gun was confiscated.
Smith is being charged with a misdemeanor, with a possible maximum sentence of one year. It’s imperative that Smith successfully survive this incident or his spot might be in jeopardy. Incidentally, another defensive lineman for the Browns was also charged with the exact same offense. It was Shaun Rogers in April who was first arrested at Hopkins international with a loaded .45 caliber. It’s unfortunate that Smith didn’t take home any lessons from the fate of his teammate. Or maybe he did, but those were the wrong kinds of lessons.
Neither case has been settled yet. Rogers pleaded not guilty and is awaiting a court date to this day.
Tags: