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Maturity and off-field was a big question for Robert Nkemdiche after the Cardinals drafted him in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
He notably suffered an injury falling out of a 2nd story building and had a past issue with questions about marijuana usage. He’s flashed on the field, but has spent the majority of his time in Arizona riddled with injury.
Now, it unfortunately seems that those off-field concerns might be coming true:
JUST IN: @AZCardinals DE Robert Nkemdiche was arrested recently in #Scottsdale for speeding and driving on a suspended license: https://t.co/YVz7GMwpdE #abc15 pic.twitter.com/Q9z5NDWEL4
— ABC15 Arizona (@abc15) June 19, 2019
Cardinals defensive end Robert Nkemdiche was arrested in Scottsdale two weeks ago for speeding and driving on a suspended license, according to a police report obtained by ABC15 Arizona.
— Bob McManaman (@azbobbymac) June 19, 2019
ABC15 broke the story, as the arrest happened on June 6th, as Nkemdiche was reportedly on his way to practice.
During the stop, it was discovered that Nkemdiche had a warrant issued for his arrest for driving on a suspended license and failing to appear for a court hearing.
The report also states that police found a white powdery substance, consistent with cocaine, in a small credit card case in his center console. However, police say the substance was not tested, and instead was impounded for destruction, with Nkemdiche’s consent.
”Based on the totality of the circumstances, it was decided not to pursue testing of the credit card holder in lieu of impounding the item for destruction with Robert’s cooperation,” the police report stated.—ABC 15 News
So...this doesn’t look good.
Given the time of the arrest at 6:30 AM, it seems like Nkemdiche was probably running late to practice after getting pulled over. A previously suspended license and missing a court date is also not good to say the least as it indicates a pattern of misbehavior.
Currently, Nkemdiche is rehabbing from an ACL tear and his contract with Arizona has injury guarantees meaning that the Cardinals will be helping him and paying for his rehab (as is only fair for players) but will begin the year likely on the P.U.P. list and won’t count against the 53-man roster.
And sadly, this is the time of year where many NFL players do end up getting into difficult situations and circumstances, although Nkemdiche’s case happened during OTA’s themselves.
Either way, not good.
Ultimately, it seems like the Cardinals and Nkemdiche might be heading for a separation in the near future, as he just hasn’t lived up to the expectations they had when drafting him.
What are your thoughts, Birdgang?