The Dallas Cowboys have released wide receiver Lucky Whitehead on Monday afternoon mere hours after the organization discovered he had outstanding charges for petty larceny and failing to appear before court. On June 22nd, Whitehead was reportedly arrested by the Prince William County Police Department in his home state of Virginia. A Wawa store employee notified police a man had left without paying, leading to the arrest and subsequent charge. On July 6th, he failed to appear before an arraignment, resulting in his second charge. However, both Whitehead and his agent, David Rich, deny the crime and state it was an instance of mistaken identity.
Update: As it turns out, Rich and Whitehead were correct, and it was a case of mistaken identity. The warrant for his arrest has been lifted and all charges dropped.
Welp. That escalated quickly. Here is the backstory on former #Cowboys WR Lucky Whitehead's wild day: pic.twitter.com/dg0FG1Vsdz
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 24, 2017
Dallas Cowboys Release Lucky Whitehead
Rich has maintained that Whitehead was boarding a plane in Dallas during the time of the crime. Whitehead allegedly was on a flight headed to Washington D.C. at 7:18 AM, and then landed at 11:30 AM. The crime occurred ten hours before at 1:30 AM.
On July 6th, the alleged instance of missing the court was due to Whitehead never receiving a summons. Rich stated that he never received a citation because he never was in the state of Virginia.
Despite the insistence that no crime was committed, the Dallas Cowboys have moved ahead and cut Whitehead. It possibly will not matter if Whitehead is proven innocent. According to ESPN’s Todd Archer, a source has informed him the Cowboys were looking to move ahead anyways based on a “number of incidents.”
During the 2016 NFL season, Whitehead missed a Saturday walkthrough, resulting in head coach Jason Garrett informing him to skip the flight. A car accident he failed to report to the coaching staff doubled down on Garrett’s anger after he discovered the accident based on a deleted Snapchat.
Today, Garrett stated that he learned about Whitehead’s June 22nd arrest after leaving the morning walkthrough.
This is not the first, or last, that Whitehead will be heard from this offseason. Last week it was reported that his dog, Blitz, was kidnapped and being held for ransom. The subsequent court hearing is set for August 10th, by which time both parties hope to resolve who is at fault.
“I don’t know who got arrested in Virginia. But, it wasn’t me. I never once had an altercation with the cops,” Whitehead emphasized in an exclusive interview with Cowboys HQ. “And come to find out, this happened, they say, at 1:34AM at a Wawa in Woodbridge, Virginia. I was in Dallas until 11:20 AM.”
While his future in the NFL is uncertain, Whitehead first must overcome this legal hurdle and convince teams that he is past minor off-the-field problems.
Whitehead was an undrafted free agent out of Florida Atlantic University. He made the Cowboys roster in 2015 and has served as a punt and kick returner intermixed with some receiving and running duties. He has started in 30 games and two times. Last season he returned 25 punts for 195 yards, and 17 kickoffs for 394 yards.
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