RAIDERS WR DAVANTE ADAMS CHARGED WITH MISDEMEANOUR ASSAULT
Las Vegas Raiders All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams was charged on Wednesday in the Municipal Court of Kansas City, Missouri with a city ordinance violation and a misdemeanor assault.
Adams shoved over a credentialed freelance photographer while coming off the field on Monday night after a frustrating game that saw the Raiders lose 30-29 to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead. The 29-year-old was also charged with a city ordinance violation on Wednesday afternoon which provides an update on an earlier filing that stated that Adams had been charged with misdemeanour assault.
The citation states that Adams “did, by an intentional, overt act, inflict bodily injury or cause an unlawful offensive contact” upon the worker, pushing him to the ground using two hands and “causing whiplash and headache” and a possible minor concussion.
As per the filed police report by the photographer, the victim took himself to a hospital where his injuries were thought to be “non-life threatening” before he called the police.
From the Kansas City Police Department, the police report filed by the photographer against Adams read: “The victim is a photographer at the Chiefs/Raiders game. At the end of the game, he was pushed to the ground causing injury. He made arrangements for private transport to the hospital for treatment at which time he called [the] police. The injuries are preliminarily thought to be non-life threatening. The incident will be investigated by our Assault Unit detectives, upon completion they will coordinate with the applicable city or state prosecutor to determine any applicable charges.”
A court date was set for Thursday, November 10 at 1:30 pm CT.
Adams publicly apologized on social media and during his postgame news conference. He said during his media conference: “Before I say anything else, I want to apologize to the guy running off the field. He jumped in front of me when I was coming off the field and I bumped into him and kind of pushed him. And he ended up on the ground. So, I want to say sorry to him for that because that was just frustration mixed with him running in front of me. I shouldn’t have responded that way but that’s how I initially responded so, I apologize to him for that.”
Adams also wrote on Twitter: “Sorry to the guy I pushed over after the game. Obviously very frustrated at the way the game ended and when he ran in front of me as I exited that was my reaction and I felt horrible immediately. That’s not me. My apologies man. Hope you see this.”
Adams was acquired by the Las Vegas Raiders in a trade with the Green Bay Packers and signed a 5-year, $141.25 million deal in March. Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels said Tuesday that he supports Adams “wholeheartedly as a human being.”
“As a person, he’s a great guy,” McDaniels told reporters. “I know him. I don’t think there was any intent behind it on his part.”
As per the prosecutor’s office in Missouri, the city ordinance violation charge against Adams is a little lower than a state misdemeanor assault charge and carries a fine of $250 to $1000 or up to 180 days in jail or both.
Adams could also still face discipline from the NFL in the form of a fine or suspension as per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. A suspension is highly unlikely but not impossible and reports confirm that the league is not in a hurry to make a punishment decision. They are, however, following the situation very closely and will determine whether Adams will be available for the Raiders in week 7 against the Houston Texans following their bye week.
While the incident seems very out of character for Adams, this is not his first altercation with a photographer. Adams also accidentally hit a photographer with a ball after he scored a touchdown in December last year while playing with the Green Bay Packers, an accident on his part that he swiftly apologized for. The photographer did not press charges.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Tomas Del Coro. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.