Ex-NFL Quarterback Erik Kramer Charged With Assaulting His Wife

AGOURA HILLS, CA – Former NFL quarterback William Erik Kramer faces prison time if convicted of with assaulting his wife, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced Thursday. Kramer, of Agoura Hills, faces one misdemeanor count of battery.

The former Lions player is charged with physically assaulting his wife at their home during a domestic dispute on June 13, prosecutors said. If convicted as charged, he faces a possible maximum sentence of a year in jail, according to the District Attorney's Office. Since retiring, the athlete has made constant headlines stemming from personal tragedies including the overdose death of his son and his own attempted suicide.

The battery case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Lost Hills Station.

The former football player, who led the Detroit Lions to the 1991 NFC championship game before going on to play with the Chicago Bears and San Diego Chargers, has struggled with depression throughout the years. In 2015, he tried to take his own life while sitting alone in a hotel room in Calabasas.

On August 15, 2015, he shot himself in the head and survived. Although he didn't die, the bullet did serious damage and he was placed in a medically-induced coma for six weeks, CBS reported. The bullet "traveled through his chin, left a hole in his tongue, went up through his sinus cavities and out the top of his head," according to Free Press.

His 18-year-old son Griffen, a quarterback at Thousand Oaks High School, died of a heroin overdose in 2011. A friend left him alone to go to a party after he had passed out while on drugs.

Patch staffer Dennis Robaugh and City News Service contributed to this post; PHOTO: 11 Oct 1998: Quarterback Erik Kramer #12 of the Chicago Bears looks on during the game against the Arizona Cardinals at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The Cardinals defeated the Bears 20-7. Credit: Aubrey Washington /Allsport