Former Falcons Player Charged With DUI

By Matthias Ford

Former Atlanta Falcons player and current Arizona Cardinals linebacker John Abraham was arrested for DUI after leaving the Pink Pony strip club, according to TMZ, his second alcohol-related arrest in a decade.

DeKalb County Police officers reportedly found the 36-year-old asleep at the wheel at 4 p.m. on June 29, and his vehicle was stopped in the middle of the road. Officials banged on the door and yelled for several minutes before Abraham woke up, and they immediately smelled alcohol, according to the police report obtained by TMZ.

Abraham, who is listed as 6-foot-4 and 225-pounds in the report, allegedly failed several field sobriety tests and declined to take a breathalyzer test.

Abraham was previously charged with DUI in October 2003 when he played for the New York Jets, but avoided jail time.

“I’m not going through that stuff again,” Abraham told The Arizona Republic last August. “It’s a bigger headache than it’s worth. I got mine one time, and one time is enough. It’s brought more pain than it did anything else. That one night of partying wasn’t worth all the things I had to go through.”

The NFL star is the league’s reigning active sacks leader, and was released by the Falcons in 2012.

Abraham had missed three days of training camp as of Monday, according to The Arizona Republic, but officials are not speaking about the reasons for his absence. A Cardinals spokesperson on Monday said the team is aware of the arrest, but declined further comment.

If Abraham is found guilty on the drunk-driving charge, he would be subject to a fine and/or suspension by the National Football League, the newspaper says.

Abraham has not commented on the arrest on Twitter.

Photo Credit: @johnbreech Twitter