EDIT: According to TMZ, thanks to an e-mail that somebody felt compelled to send straight to my inbox, this is the second time that Griffen has been arrested this week. Apparently he was arrested in Hollywood on Friday and booked for being drunk in public. He was released on Saturday. Wonderful.
Ahhhhhhh, now this is the sort of off-season news we're more accustomed to making in Minnesota, isn't it?
Everson Griffen, a defensive end selected by the Vikings in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft, was tased and arrested this afternoon in Los Angeles for assaulting an officer at a traffic stop near the Southern Cal campus. According to The Daily Trojan,
Police officers were performing a traffic stop at the intersection of 30th and Hoover Streets when they pulled Griffen over. He did not have an I.D. on him and became aggressive when questioned by officers, according to an LAPD spokesperson. Griffen attempted to run away and then assaulted one of the officers who was pursuing him. The officers tased Griffen, then arrested him on a charge of felony battery.
With a slightly faster 40-time, he may have gotten away.
It's going to be interesting to see how this shakes out with the Vikings' roster, though. . .Coach Leslie Frazier has been favorably compared to Tony Dungy when it comes to matters of character and things of that nature with his players, and there's no way in hell that Dungy would tolerate something like this on his team. Absolutely, positively no way. With this situation with Griffen, along with Brian Robison and Ray Edwards both looking at possible free agency, this may move defensive end up the Vikings' draft/off-season priority list.
But yes. . .after the season we just went through, this may be a sign that things are getting back to normal in Minnesota.
And that's really, really sad.