Harbaugh Brothers Leading The League In Off-The-Field Headaches
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - A little over a year after facing off in the Super Bowl, Jim Harbaugh of the San Francisco 49ers and John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens are again leading the National Football League on the stat sheet, this time for the highest number of players on the roster arrested this offseason.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, there have been a total of 16 NFL players (and one owner) arrested since the Super Bowl. Both the Ravens and 49ers lead the league with three arrests apiece.
The arrests are no doubt an unwanted distraction for a pair of teams hoping to get back to the Super Bowl after falling short last year. Adding to the trouble is the high-profile nature of some of the alleged offenses.
For the 49ers, the most recent arrest came just this weekend when linebacker Aldon Smith was taken into custody after allegedly yelling "bomb" at a terminal at Los Angeles International Airport. It was just the latest in a string of off the field incidents for Smith and his teammates. Last month cornerback Chris Culliver was picked up on hit-and-run and weapons possession charges. In January, lineman Daniel Kilgore was arrested on in Kingsport, Tennessee on charges of public drunkenness. He was later acquitted.
Not among those arrested was star quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who just last week was named as a suspect in a "suspicious incident" involving a woman in Miami.
On the Ravens side, star running back Ray Rice has been indicted on a third-degree aggravated assault charge involving a woman he later married, according to reports. Lower profile teammates Jah Reid and Deonte Thompson were arrested for a bar brawl and marijuana possession respectively. The charges against Thompson were later dismissed.
John Harbaugh has said he will wait to see how the case against Rice shakes out before making any determination on his future. Jim Harbaugh, who has said previously that he expects his players to be "above reproach in everything" is facing increasing pressure from local sports columnists to do something about behavior issues on his team.