Akeem Spence Busted For Pot
January 15th, 2014
While this is news, Joe is not going to pound on a guy for this.
Bucs defensive tackle Akeem Spence was pinched for pot Tuesday after a traffic stop in Alabama. It was not a routine stop, as Spence was flying down the road at over 100 mph, reports NorthEscambia.com.
According to reports, Spence was stopped by an Alabama State Trooper who clocked him in excess of 100 mph. A search of his vehicle by a law enforcement K-9 located an unspecified amount of marijuana in his vehicle, according to authorities.
The 22-year old Spence was booked into the Escambia County (Ala.) Detention Center on charges of unlawful possession of marijuana second degree and unlawful possession of a controlled substance. He was released shortly after his arrest on a $3,000 bond.
Now while Joe won’t hammer Spence, it’s not good. Frankly, what bothers Joe more than the pot is that Spence was driving recklessly. When you are going that fast, you are just begging for a nasty wreck to happen, a wreck that not only puts innocents at risk, but just as importantly, puts Spence at risk.
If you want drive like Tony Stewart, either go to Daytona where they will let you drive on the NASCAR track, or fly to Germany and cruise the Autobahn. Besides, Spence is a good dude. Just did something dumb.
January 15th, 2014 at 10:10 am
Why doesn’t this idiot just move to Colorado?
January 15th, 2014 at 10:14 am
And now you’re in the program.
If they are smart about it, players can enjoy smoking. Just have to wait for the annual test (usually in April). Pee clean for your yearly test, and then you are good to go. Smoke an ounce and no worries. It’s amazing that either agents don’t school these guys up, or they do and it’s ignored.
Obviously, it was his friend’s weed and he was just holding it for him.–Joe 😉
January 15th, 2014 at 10:15 am
DUMB ASS. Say what you will about the marijuana but he was asking for it at 100 mph.
Was anybody really impressed with his play this year?
Bring on Henry Melton.
January 15th, 2014 at 10:15 am
@Lev – or California, really. The guy has the means to make it happen and if that’s how he chooses to spend his off season then do it where it’s legal at least. Agreed on the driving part. I’m all in favor of people being able to do what they want with their recreational time as long as they’re not hurting anyone but when you’re risking other peoples’ safety then it’s a big deal. At the same time though, it wasn’t so long ago when I was 22 and I remember being pretty oblivious to that sort of stuff as well.
January 15th, 2014 at 10:16 am
No wonder he’s always got that big ol’ smile on face. Dude has the biggest, best smile in the league as far as I’m concerned.
January 15th, 2014 at 10:20 am
If he stays with the team, I nominate the nickname ” Sir Smoke Alot “
January 15th, 2014 at 10:22 am
Double stuck on stupid….driving that fast with pot in the vehicle…
I wonder what Schiano would do with him? Maybe he thought
“Wow, now that Schiano is gone, I can do 100 & pot and he won’t cut me”….
January 15th, 2014 at 10:23 am
According to Father Dungy, Akeem Spence’s car and the legal speed limit just weren’t in sync.
January 15th, 2014 at 10:29 am
BucsfaninChina: If Rotoworld is accurate, Melton is coming off an arrest of his own and charged with misdemeanor assault and public intoxication. He is also coming off a ACL injury that landed him on IR.
How about BJ Raji. FA to be and tired of playing in the Packers system. Turned down contract offer from them.
January 15th, 2014 at 10:31 am
Dumb move. The excessive speed is more dangerous than smoking the weed. When I was a kid I smoked weed from the time I was 16 until 20. I had a few accidents at during that period but never when I was high. For whatever reason when smoking it made me more cautious and when I would get behind the wheel I would always drive slower. I am not saying it’s safer to drive high but at least for me as a teenager I got more speeding tickets when I was 100 % straight sober. I haven’t been stoned for 40 years so maybe the potency is allot stronger.
January 15th, 2014 at 10:39 am
Wasn’t Lovie Sam Hurd’s HC as well, sounds like something Rep Issa should investigate…I kid, I kid…
He’s 22 with more money in his bank account right now then most American’s will make in their lifetime, yeah he was reckless, he’s also a kid…
January 15th, 2014 at 10:40 am
Ok really. This is how you want to start your new tenure off with a new staff?
I don’t see anything coming of Spence now and this will likely make him expendable or glue him to the bench.
Bucs will likely get a FA vet to start and draft for depth. This was a stupid thing to do! These privileged athletes are so spoiled and ungrateful for the opportunities they have to do something they love to do and get paid well to do it. Sad!
January 15th, 2014 at 10:44 am
Whatever happened to telling a policeman he doesn’t have permission to search your vehicle without a warrant??
Notwithstanding, why do these players have to carry their cannabis around with them everywhere they go?? Even the old-time hippies I knew back in the day didn’t do that.
January 15th, 2014 at 10:45 am
Not very smart to do 100mph with weed in the car. Obviously he wasn’t smoking it at the time or he would be going more like 30mph.
January 15th, 2014 at 10:53 am
Akeem Spence just made it easier for the Bucs to seek an upgrade at his position.
Correct me if I’m wrong though, but doesn’t Melton play McCoy’s position? Either way, not sure it makes sense overpaying for a tackle coming off of a major injury and similar legal problems as Spence.
January 15th, 2014 at 10:57 am
I can’t look at this as anything but good news. Bring on Louis Nix. Spence wasn’t good enough to take the heat off McCoy anyway. To the bench 4th rounder!
January 15th, 2014 at 10:57 am
Come on man! If you’re gonna take a burn cruise on the highway at least have the common f@!#&%$ sense to get in the right lane and go the speed limit. Being a black man in Alabama is reason enough for some of those clowns to pull you over in their minds, but with the speeding it’s like he was just begging for trouble.
January 15th, 2014 at 10:58 am
100 mph is nothing when your his age and don’t know any better.
north of 150mph is a bit sketchy on the highway though 🙂
very stupid to do it with weed in the car!
January 15th, 2014 at 11:01 am
Mike J, they don’t need a warrant to search the car if there was a crime committed in the vehicle (speeding). They can do a quick search to make sure there are no weapons or other illegal substances in the car. Or if they otherwise determine a crime is being committed, ala smelling weed in the car, they have probable cause to conduct a search.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:06 am
Doesn’t sound like he is a “schiano man” anymore.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:09 am
A wise man once told me to never create your own exhibit A. Well he did just that.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:11 am
@Kalind
McCoy had his best year this year, next to a rookie, Spence, if you actually watched the games you might have seen him taking on double teams almost every play and actually taking the heat off of GMC, the kid is very good and incredibly strong, the middle of our line was not an issue, that is at the ends…
January 15th, 2014 at 11:17 am
Speeding and a joint are the worst crimes a human can commit. Kick him off the team. No one here would ever commit those crimes.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:18 am
Likely suspension, so he better bring it in OTA’s. He’s strong and quick off the ball, so there’s a place for him in the rotation. Young man just gotta grow up. Hopefully this will be that wake up.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:20 am
Spence may end up being a backup DT…..it was positions like that last year that were just OK that we will be trying to upgrade this year….on D also just OK was AC, WATSON…bad was Johnson & Bowers/Teo
I think Spence was worth the pick and is a good player and perhaps a great backup while in development.
I agree….he wasn’t high…or he’s be doin’ about 20mph!!!
January 15th, 2014 at 11:23 am
Dumb A*s act…..
January 15th, 2014 at 11:23 am
Melton seemed to behave under Lovie’s watch. He may be coming off an ACL injury but he was a 15 sack man between 2011 and 2012 and could be snagged for much cheaper than Raji. Not saying he could replace Spence who has a bright future, but the Bucs have to do a better job freeing up McCoy and Derek Landri aint gonna cut it at #3.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:25 am
Live and learn, kid. Having pot, being black and in Alabama, and doing 100. You really can’t do all three.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:31 am
@Joe
Yeah, tell that to the sample taker when he knocks on the door. 😉
January 15th, 2014 at 11:35 am
Mike J Says
“Whatever happened to telling a policeman he doesn’t have permission to search your vehicle without a warrant??”
Just Cause.
The reality is that dope makes you careless, less vigilant. This is probably the reason he was speeding.
And I can’t believe you people are blowing off the dope charge. How many Tanard Jacksons and Jeremy Stevens do we have to experience before Tampa fans get it?
Do I think Spence should be cut? No. Not at this point. He’ll enter the system now and hopeefully straighten out. But probably not, becausse he was dumb enough to risk his career in the first place and dope doesn’t exactly make you smarter.
Very disappointing.
And, by the way, ven the places where it is legal require a prescription, dumb***es.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:35 am
Well that didn’t take long.
Schiano is gone for less than a month and we’re
already regressing to the RahRah days.
Reminds me of the old parable:
“Watch out what you wish for. You just might get it.”
January 15th, 2014 at 11:43 am
“Having pot, being black and in Alabama, and doing 100. You really can’t do all three”
UMM, I think white people who are going 100 get pulled over as well, no matter what state they are in!
January 15th, 2014 at 11:46 am
In the words of the late great Nate Dog. ” Hey, Hey,yay,yay… Smoke weed everyday.” C’mon man, light up at your house. Reckless driving aint funny though…
January 15th, 2014 at 11:47 am
I blame it on Freeman, it was probably freemans stash spence was smoking. Freeman most likely got him to try it and now he’s hooked. Goodell should expel Freeman from the league. Maybe Freeman and Schiano could hook up and coach a High School football team.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:47 am
What I don’t really get is why did they search his car? I have been pulled over for speeding several times before, never been asked or searched.
I guess never at 100 MPH but damn, why you going to be so stupid especially with “Your Friends” weed in the car.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:49 am
Oh hell, just trade him to the Patriots for a 7’th rounder. He’ll make the Pro Bowl for sure under BB.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:50 am
How is a player taking adderall(sp?) during the off season so selfish and stupid and then marijuana is no big deal? They’re both against league rules. Why was Eric Wright so villainized for his first offense with the Bucs, and Spence is just a side note?
January 15th, 2014 at 11:54 am
Joe, I expect you to make Spence a nickname out of this
January 15th, 2014 at 11:55 am
I’ll be honest. I like to dance with the lady in the green dress. But like Mike J said, don’t have it with you in the damn car. The only time I have it the car is when I’m bringing it home, and I pay extra attention to the speed limit. And if I do bring some with me, it’s never more than what I can throw down my gullet and swallow it with a drink of water.
January 15th, 2014 at 11:58 am
Winter…Freeman is driving himself out of the league. S. King had the talent to be a B. Johnson QB…but didn’t do all the work over all the years Johnson did. Freeman had the physical talent to be a good NFL QB…maybe not a Rodgers, but a very good one. He just didn’t have it mentally or emotionally,or both. Good luck to him, but won’t be the first guy to travel his road, nor the last, I’m sure. Hope this year lights a fire underneath him and he gets it together.
January 15th, 2014 at 12:03 pm
Chef…I was expecting more of a “yule time festive green herbal brownie ingredient”…you know festive…like the age old tune…”deck the halls with bags of ganja”… rather than a “lady in a green dress”…that sounds more like a phrase that Gannon would use in the old Dragnet series.
January 15th, 2014 at 12:10 pm
Lol Mark,
I wasn’t to happy with the way I worded it either, but I was too stoned to think of something better. I’m kidding. I don’t do it during the day either. Wouldn’t get anything done if I did. That Dragnet reference predates me, but I think I get your drift.
January 15th, 2014 at 12:11 pm
100 mph really isnt’t that fast. When I was Spence’s age going 100+ on the highway was on a routine basis. It wasn’t smart, but he certainly wasn’t driving like a maniac if he was only going 100 with no other cars around. Even now on the highway, being nearly 20 years older, I occasionally approach 100 mph for very brief stretches. I haven’t had a ticket in…. I don’t know, 10 years, maybe?
As for the weed, I’m a total non-smoker, never done it, never will, but at this point it seems like so many athletes are doing it that the only thing I’m upset about is his stupidity in having it in car while he was driving at a rate of speed that made him impossible to ignore for a police officer.
January 15th, 2014 at 12:25 pm
I’m a little confused Joe by your comment Joe. Are you saying that having the drugs in his car aren’t that big of deal?
January 15th, 2014 at 12:39 pm
Total non issue in my mind. Outta be his personal choice and no ones business.
Go away big brother.
January 15th, 2014 at 12:39 pm
these buccaneer men are we picked up the last two years shine more off field than on the field, clean up the lockerroom huh
you can do all the evaluating you want but theres a reason why some people are horrible workers but excellent interviewers. if someone really wants to hide something they will, spence you havent arrived just because you made it through your rookie season in the nfl, your career is just getting started. these clemson guys….no one is gonna make fun of you for pot seriously your one year removed from being a college student but lol why be dumb enough to get caught once you get your dream job? really thinks he’s arrived but under a new coach as if your irreplaceable? your an idiot for getting caught not smoking, your an idiot for getting caught after they hired a coach like lovie,
your a black man doing 100+ and you get pulled over and police find pot….do you really think you can use the line it’s not mine? how smart can you really be
January 15th, 2014 at 12:42 pm
@flmike: If YOU actually watched the games you would see McCoy almost always taking on the double teams on passing downs, not the other way around.
January 15th, 2014 at 12:53 pm
Chef…maybe more like J. Peterman would say on the old Seinfeld Show?
January 15th, 2014 at 1:04 pm
Rule #1:
If you’re doing something illegal, don’t do something illegal.
(example: if you have a key of coke in your trunk, you might not want to run that red light)
January 15th, 2014 at 1:17 pm
Joe some overlooked facts, according to yours and others articles, he was charged with possession and not use because if he was using it would be a DWI. He maybe charged with this later, but it is doubtful.
The 100 MPH on a back country road is not a smart move, on an empty freeway in a new Corvette is another item. Also did he have anyone with him or was he alone?
How much does a 4th round pick get a year? I don’t think this makes him wealthy, but his car insurance rates will take a lot of that, along with attorney fees, court costs and fines, plus what the club and leagues does.
He is just a kid and if he learns from this, he will be a much better person, if not we will know early in his career about what to so with him.
January 15th, 2014 at 1:18 pm
Mark,
HAHA I just pictured him saying those words and laughed out loud. I can totally see him saying that. Now I’m flattered being compared to that wordsmith.
January 15th, 2014 at 1:32 pm
Mark,
I found this. Only have to watch for a few seconds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-gFcx5ihcI#t=210
January 15th, 2014 at 1:44 pm
I think it’s odd that the NFL outlaws the best pain remedy (hemp) in the world.
Then the NFL decides to destroy the game with sissy rules changes and outlaws the cure (HGH) to the brain injuries.
The pharmaceutical companies have a stranglehold on Congress, the White House and the NFL.
I had a long time friend die of a malignant brain tumor yesterday. I wish she could have had the choice to cure herself with cannabis.
I have cars that seem like they’re going 40mph, but if you’re not paying close attention, the speedometer drifts well past 100mph.
January 15th, 2014 at 2:33 pm
Funny, we trade Talib because he’s a “trouble maker” for a 4th round pick that we use on another guy that gets in trouble. Just more evidence in a long list of just how stupid Dominick is.
January 15th, 2014 at 3:07 pm
Everybody must get stoned!!
January 15th, 2014 at 4:30 pm
100+ MPH while smoking pot! No way dude. Nobody goes that fast stoned!
January 15th, 2014 at 5:34 pm
Just wait till he has a sit down with Papa Lovie lol
January 15th, 2014 at 7:47 pm
One last word, anyone who thinks pot is a “drug” needs to understand it’s not a drug it’s a plant. In my eyes drugs are synthesized chemicals, compounds and formulas. The hardest of drugs, cocaine and heroin do not grow in the ground, they are formulated from poppy and coca but those plants by themselves do not get people high, it’s the processing and production in the labs that make them into drugs. You can’t smoke a poppy plant and get high, the opium has to be manufactured from the poppy. All of the heavily abused painkillers, oxycodone, Vicodin, morphine, etc are also unnatural man made substances.
I am not a proponent or smoker of marijuana but it has to be seen in perspective, it’s a plant that grows in the ground and is just as natural as any other spice or herb. The government outlawed it because they didn’t like natural substances that make some people feel better when manufacturers can make all these other artificial chemical agents that are much more profitable than growing a crop like marijuana. Much more dangerous I may add than pot.
January 15th, 2014 at 8:37 pm
@Bucsfanman
Must have been smoking some that Reggie Bush..lol
January 16th, 2014 at 12:06 am
OB Says
“The 100 MPH on a back country road is not a smart move…”
Back country roads are the best places to do it. Less likely to get caught.
But…
…I did 120 MPH on Waters Ave, in my first car. NOT under the influence, lol.
I hit that dip at Sligh and tour the frame out from under it. Goodbye first car.
A hanger doesn’t fix stupid 😉
January 16th, 2014 at 5:07 pm
I am tired of seeing all these negative comments about Akeem. Yes he may of messed up and been driving recklessly and had some weed on him. But do you know how many other kids out there in or out of the spot light have done it. I knew Akeem from high school and he isnt a bad person. If it was your family member or friend how would feel seeing people talk bad and down to them.. I am sure he knows he made a mistake and he is gonna fix it. But all the negative comments needs to stop.. And Akeem if you do read this or hear about this comment just always remember your family is here in the 850 and we will stand behind you. Keep your head up high and move forward!!!
January 16th, 2014 at 5:27 pm
Kat:
Irrelevant. Weed is illegal in most of the country. Spence is employed as an NFL player and there are repercussions for this behavior, clearly outlined in the NFLPA’s contract with the NFL.
Akeem is one of Joe’s favorite players, but that doesn’t give the man (not a boy; but an adult) a pass. Hope he learns from this and that this is the last time Joe will write about Akeem for an off-field incident.
February 8th, 2014 at 4:09 pm
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