According to a FOXSports.com report, Titans’ receiver Kenny Britt was charged with eluding a police officer, lying to an officer/hindering apprehension and obstructing governmental function. Per the report, eluding an officer is a third-degree felony, while the other two charges are misdemeanors.
Britt is now the 10th player that has been arrested since the NFL locked out its players on March 11.
According to a police report, the incident occurred at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday when Britt was clocked driving his blue Porsche at 71 mph in a 50-mph zone. When an officer attempted to enter the roadway to stop the vehicle, the Porsche accelerated and began weaving in and out of highway traffic. The Porsche then exited the highway and was spotted on a local street with Britt and Lord walking away from the vehicle.
The officer ordered them to stop and began questioning Britt and Lord, both of whom denied being in the vehicle. At one point during the interview, Lord ran away on foot, but he was apprehended a block away by a pursuing officer.
Britt, who was recognized as a Titans player, admitted that the Porsche was his after being asked by the officer about the Tennessee plates on the vehicle. Britt, however, claimed he wasn’t the driver.
It goes without saying that not all NFL players are upstanding citizens. Many of them are young, rich, stupid and have too much time on their hands, and Britt (22) is one of them. Some players also think they’re invincible and don’t have to play by society’s rules, which is a recipe for disaster and this lockout is only making the situation worse.
It’s painfully obvious that some guys need the discipline, structure and direction that the league provides. I realize there are 1,600-plus players in the NFL and not all of them are running around like it’s spring break in Cabo, but 10 arrests since March 11? Clearly teams are suffering from not being able to keep an eye on certain players and the Titans are one of them.
This is just one more reason why the lockout needs to end soon.
Comment Starter: Do you think Britt will receive any jail time?
Comment Ender: Is he a professional athlete? Yes? Then: Hahahahaahahhohohohoheheheheeheheheahhhhhh…to your question.
This has suspension written all over it, but it depends on what the police find in their investigation. If he does miss time, it’s really going to hurt his draft stock, which was slowly on the rise after his productive yet injury-riddled 2010. Suspended players are often great values on draft day. Steve Smith 1.0, Santonio Holmes and Ben Roethlisberger are a few examples of players whose stock was overly depressed on draft day. And all three came back to help fantasy owners for the remainder of the season.
With regard to Britt, he’s not as trustworthy (football-wise) as those aforementioned players. He has shown up to camp out of shape and has a long history of injury for a second-year player. If he’s docked four games, he better have a plan in place to stay involved in team activities or his 2011 will go sideways fast. His ADP is sitting in the middle of the 5th round, so I suspect that will drop into the 8th or 9th with a suspension looming. Fantasy owners aren’t afraid to take chances on high upside guys in the middle rounds, but they are reluctant to use a “starter” pick (typically Rounds 1-7) on a player in Britt’s situation.
Looking at the big picture, if Britt misses time, this will be an opportunity for Jared Cook and/or Damian Williams to establish themselves as a major part of the Titans’ passing game. Cook was already garnering sleeper status and this will only serve to pump up his stock this offseason.
