Of all the NFL players to have tangled with the law recently, Lance Briggs' single-car Lamborghini crash might be the strangest. He's also clearly the luckiest. Here are the facts:
- Briggs' car was found wrecked and abandoned at 3:15am Monday morning in North Side Chicago
- Briggs left the scene and called the police at 4am (after the police had found the car), though Briggs initially said he didn't call until 8 or 9am
- Briggs said he initially reported the car stolen, then called back and admitted he wrecked it. The police say he never reported it stolen.
- Some witnesses report that Briggs was at a couple clubs (on Sunday night remember) prior to the accident
If you can give me a plausible explanation for these facts that doesn't include Briggs being blind drunk, I'd like to hear it. I guess the alternative is that he sustained a massive concussion that has destroyed his memory of the whole evening, or even created false memories. Neither are good signs for his career. I can only imagine the people in the Bears' front office sitting around thinking about how much they have to discount Briggs' contract offer just because of the odd facts surrounding the incident.
The weirdest thing is that most of these inconsistencies were raised by Briggs himself in his mini-presser. I think most attorneys would advise a client not to speak publicly at all if the client isn't 100% sure of the facts in his own case. It's very embarassing to be contradicted by the police report (especially because there's a pretty strong presumption that the police were sober when they made it). It's also very embarassing to have your client admit he left the scene of an accident (the entire crime he's been charged with) and then attempt to defend him in some meaningful way.
All in all, this could have been a substance abuse violation for the NFL and a more serious crime. Briggs is very lucky.
5 Responses:
let me see a show of hands on how many of us really believe that most professional atheletes can think their way out of a paper box let alone out of a major situation. lets face it....these guys only train of thought is must catch the ball and run...after all, that is what they get paid for...where is the thought process. I am under the impression that most of them came from low income families, learned a trade..aka..play a sport...and they throw big bucks at them. play well, and someone else will clean up your messes...why else would that one football player kill his girlfriend because she became pregant and throw her in the trunk of his car and actually think he could get away with it. America buys into this whole sports hero bit and we go along with their nonsense as long as our city produces a winning team. he, in my opinion, is just another player in long line who continue to act this way as long as the public turns on blind eye to this!
Lance Briggs is 26, 12 days older than me. He is from Sacramento, was born to married parents, and had a sister and a cousin play D-1 volleyball (FSU and Arizona respectively).
He might be coddled, but he's not Michael Vick or Rae Carruth. In fact, he displayed a far greater respect for the law than most other offenders. He knew he had done something bad and left the scene to sober up and think about how to handle it. He didn't just assume the police would look the other way.
And my point about Briggs' two family members who went to college is that they didn't hone their volleyball skills to make a living. They honed them to go to decent colleges and get an education. That's not the same as other athletes who act as though they are above the law.
I am thinking back to my high school days and college days and I know for a fact the athletes got much better treatment than most because they brought the big shots in to watch them play ball. we all know that pro and college teams bring in a ton of money for the city or college. it is big business. so he went home and sobered up and than called the cops...why so many lies. and how many times did drink and drive before this accident happeneed? trust me...I don't think I would get the same treatment if I were in the same situation
You said: so he went home and sobered up and than called the cops...why so many lies.
Re-read that sentence. I think it speaks for itself.
I don't know enough about Chicago to know how the special treatment goes, but I do know that NFLers get less special treatment because they wear helmets and are less recognizable. That's a big part of why the NFL has more arrests than the other leagues.
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