With a labor resolution and the start of NFL free agency potentially on the horizon, receiver Braylon Edwards pleaded guilty this morning to a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated, stemming from an arrest last September. He must pay a $500 fine and continue to participate in the NFL's substance-abuse program.
Edwards' drivers' license will be suspended for six months, and he must install also an ignition interlock system that requires the driver to blow into a blood alcohol detector before starting the car.
"I feel good; I feel like it came to a fair conclusion," said Edwards, who wore a lime-green shirt and arrived with his parents at Manhattan Criminal Court. "I'm happy this is past us, and now it's time to focus on football again."
Edwards, who will be a free agent for the first time in his career, reiterated that he "most definitely" wants to re-sign with the Jets and would like to get a deal done in the early period when teams can re-sign their own free agents. The 28-year-old had 53 catches for a team-high 904 yards and seven touchdowns last season.
The DWI case had been adjourned several times and was headed for trial with a pre-trial hearing scheduled for this morning, but Edwards changed course and entered the guilty plea.
"He's been waiting for this period of his life for a very long time," Edwards' attorney, Peter Frankel, said. "He wants to put any negativity behind him."
Edwards had a blood-alcohol content of 0.16, twice the legal limit, when he was pulled over in Manhattan Sept. 21, according to the criminal complaint. He was arrested and charged, and the Jets benched him for the first quarter of the following week's game in Miami.
By meeting the conditions of the plea, Edwards' case will be closed without jail time or probation. This is a standard plea deal, the District Attorney's office said.
One potential complication, though, is the possibility of repercussions in Cleveland, where Edwards pleaded no contest to aggravated disorderly conduct after a 2009 fight outside a nightclub. He was on inactive probation at the time of his DWI arrest, and the guilty plea could be found to violate those terms. Edwards may be called back to Cleveland for a probation hearing, facing up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
"If he's called to Cleveland, he's going to go, and he's going to deal with whatever may come with that," Frankel said. "But with everything he's done over the past 18 months, the tremendous charitable contributions he's made, I think that he's ready to put this behind him and move forward."
Frankel referenced the $1 million in college scholarships Edwards awarded 100 Cleveland students this spring, fulfilling a promise he made four years earlier during his time with the Browns.
Edwards could also face a penalty under the league's substance-abuse policy, generally a fine for first-time offenders, though the punishment can be increased due to aggravating circumstances.
He hopes the case does not affect his status in free agency.
"I would hope not, but I'm glad we got it resolved today before free agency is officially opened," Edwards said. "That's definitely good for us, but at the same time, I don't know. You may have some teams that are wary; you may have some teams that hopefully want an upstanding young man and are still OK with it. So it's moreso you have to talk to them and get a feel for them. I can't really speculate what they're going to do."
Jets receivers Santonio Holmes and Brad Smith will also be free agents. Edwards has said he would take a pay cut to return to the Jets, but there has been much public debate over whether the Jets should keep Holmes or Edwards.
"I wouldn't compare myself to 'Tone; he's a friend as well as a teammate," Edwards said. "He's a great player; I'm a great player. We both offer a lot on the field as well as off, so it's just a matter of, if we can't get both of them, whatever one they want to go with. It's their call, really. If it is him, I wish him nothing but the best."
Source: www.nj.com
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