Mike Williams, a rookie wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Florida, early in the morning before he was to show up at practice the next day.
The arrest garnered headlines because Williams has become one of the best players on the Tampa Bay team after being drafted only last year. He has started every game this NFL season.
According to police, the vehicle that Williams was driving, a Cadillac Escalade, was swerving in and out of traffic and exceeding the speed limit when they pulled it over at around 2:30 A.M. The sheriff’s report said that Williams had a glassy look in his eyes, and police smelled alcohol in the car.
According to the St. Petersburg Times, he failed a field sobriety test.
Williams took a Breathalyzer test, the results of which showed that he had a .065 blood-alcohol content. This number is below the Florida legal driving limit of .08 percent. Williams was still arrested, however, and taken in, then release on $500 bond.
According to Florida police, they can make a DUI arrest even if the breath test shows a blood-alcohol content below the legal limit if there is evidence that a driver was impaired. Such evidence can include the way the person was driving.
According to officials, Williams also submitted to a urine test. The results of that test are expected within a month to six weeks.
In a peculiar turn, the Buccaneers team also had Williams submit a urine sample to them, to allow them to test for several substances, some of which are banned in the NFL, according to the St. Petersburg Times. They did this, apparently, in order to more quickly obtain results of the tests. Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris was happy with the results of this private test, and told the press that he was satisfied that Williams was “clean.”
He also added that the team will be fining Williams “a lot of money” following the late-night incident. The coaching staff had already expressed their disappointment to Williams himself.
“He was very remorseful, which is a good sign,” said offensive coordinator Greg Olson. “He wasn’t full of excuses, and that’s a good sign. I think it’s obviously unfortunate that it happened. We’re certainly disappointed that he would be out that late knowing that we had a big game and practice.”
