Dallas Cowboys nose tackle Jay Ratliff was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated after crashing his pickup truck into an 18-wheeler in Grapevine, Texas, early Tuesday morning, NFL News reported.
Ratliff walked away from the accident unharmed and was released from jail after posting $500 bond. Ratliff's 2012 Ford pickup first hit the 18-wheeler and then a barricade on highway 114, Grapevine senior police officer Sam Shemwell told USA Today Sports. The driver of the 18-wheeler was also uninjured.
Ratliff failed a field sobriety test administered by officers following the accident, Shemwell said.
The crash occurred on the same highway where Ratliff's teammates Jerry Brown Jr. and Josh Brent were involved in a drunk driving accident just six weeks ago, killing Brown Jr.
For reasons still unknown, nose tackle Brent - whose blood-alcohol content was twice Texas' legal limit of o.o8 percent, police have said - drove the pair home. According to local authorities, neither Brown nor Brent were wearing seat belts when Brent's Mercedes flipped after clipping a curb on a highway access road eventually crashing onto a median.
Brown Jr. was sober at the time of his death, The Dallas Morning News reported. The practice-squad linebacker had a blood-alcohol content of 0.056 percent, low enough to still legally drive.
The autopsy revealed Brown died of blunt force injuries of the head and neck, according to the Morning News. His death was ruled an accident.
Brent was driving early the morning of Dec. 8 with teammate and best friend Brown Jr. when he crashed his car. Brent is currently charged with intoxicated manslaughter, and faces time in prison, as well as penalties from the NFL for violating the league's personal conduct and substance abuse policies.
NFL commissioner Goodell says he's spoken with Mothers Against Drunk Driving CEO Debbie Weir and NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith to discuss what the league can do differently in helping educate players about the issue of drunk driving as well as offering different resources.
He says there's an issue with the punishment allowed under the collective bargaining agreement in regards to the NFL's substance abuse policy.
"I don't think it's a secret that we've long felt that discipline in this area needs to be revisited and escalated on a first offense and a second offense," Goodell said. "Hopefully that never happens -- but I think it's very important to have that."
In a statement issued shortly after the crash, Brent said he was "devastated and filled with grief."
"I will live with this horrific and tragic loss every day for the rest of my life," he said in the statement. "My prayers are with his family, our teammates and his friends at this time."
According to Yahoo News, drunk driving is the biggest legal issue effecting players in the NFL. A study by the San Diego Union-Tribune found that 112 of the 385 NFL player arrests (29 percent) between 2000 and 2008 involved drunk driving, Yahoo News reported.
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