Rookie QB Arrested After Nearly Striking Police Officer with Car
As a general rule, when you’re a rookie who hasn’t been tabbed as your team’s Next Big Thing by virtue of being a top draft pick, one of the minimum standards you should meet in order to keep your roster spot is to stay out of trouble off the field.
Giants backup quarterback Kyle Lauletta failed to heed that little piece of advice, and he was arrested Tuesday morning on his way to practice, NJ.com reported.
And just to make the water a little closer to the boiling point, Lauletta nearly hit a police officer with his car.
The rookie was trying to make a right turn across traffic to get onto Route 495 West in Weehawken, New Jersey, and the cop instructed him to continue driving straight.
Instead, Lauletta, driving a Jaguar, proceeded with his turn and nearly hit the officer, according to police.
The quarterback did the same thing Monday, NJ.com reported. Once is a fluke. Twice, and you have to wonder if Lauletta either is a lousy driver or simply can’t follow directions.
While the Monday incident passed without significant consequences, the Tuesday incident led to an arrest.
The worst part of all this from a pure football perspective? Lauletta was expected to make a play for the starting job with Eli Manning and the entire team struggling. The Giants are 1-7, and their 37-year old quarterback has just eight touchdown passes against six interceptions.
Instead, Lauletta is in legal trouble and at best facing one heck of a traffic fine; at worst, Lauletta could be looking at jail time.
He’d better hope the judge isn’t a Jets fan.
News media caught up with the star of the Giants’ rookie class, running back Saquon Barkley, to ask for his comments, and he bounced most of them up the chain, saying, “That’s more a question for coach (Pat) Shurmur.”
When a reporter said the arrest “doesn’t seem to jibe with (Lauletta’s) character,” Barkley responded, “Yeah, I know Kyle really well, and it definitely was shocking, but I don’t know too much about it to speak on it, to be honest, but I know it’s really nothing. I know it sounds crazy but I know it’s probably really nothing crazy, because of the kind of person he is.”
Considering Lauletta’s facing charges of eluding police, obstructing justice and resisting arrest, that doesn’t sound like nothing.
There is one silver lining for the Giants in a season that keeps going from bad to worse.
Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa would look awfully good in blue if he declares for the draft and New York gets the first pick.
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