Big Legal Day For Akeem Spence
July 7th, 2014
Akeem Spence could finally put his bad January day in Alabama behind him this afternoon.
Spence has been on the hook after state police claimed he was driving over 100 miles per hour while in possession of marijuana.
Spence, per a chat with Joe, got the court date bumped back to today, so he wouldn’t miss any practice time with the Buccaneers. Spence also was confident the matters would be disposed of quickly and painlessly. “It’s just something small. Some [stuff] that happened. It was a mistake,” Spence told Joe in April.
Spence can simply pay the speeding ticket but the weed possession is a misdemeanor that can’t be just paid off.
Joe suspects Spence will enter some sort of probation/intervention program. As always, it’s unclear whether Roger Goodell will sit him down for a game.
July 7th, 2014 at 9:59 am
With a conviction he’ll be entered into the league’s substance abuse program, so he’d better stay clear of the weed from now on.
July 7th, 2014 at 10:03 am
Hopefully he will realize the golden opportunity he is in with the Bucs and right his ship. I wish him the best…
July 7th, 2014 at 10:09 am
“It’s just something small. Some [stuff] that happened.” – Spence
That right there just earned him a 4 game suspension if he wasn’t already going to get one. He just told Goodell that he doesn’t think what he did is a big deal. No remorse.
And that kind of attitude also tells us he’ll probably have more issues in the future.
July 7th, 2014 at 11:52 am
@Bonzai, as much as I hold JBF in high regard, I doubt Goodell is an avid reader to the point he picked up on that quote.
And as far as remorse goes, does he need to be self-flagellating over a speeding ticket and having weed in the car? Over half the state of Florida has probably done something MUCH worse
July 7th, 2014 at 12:40 pm
Hope he has learned his lesson and can put it behind him! If not, L&L will know what to do. Anyone hear about DE Sam Montgomery’s fiasco last week? 89 in a 55 and arrested and no drugs. Each officer makes his own call. Ive got myself out of some very bad situations in my youth by just being respectful and using sir (or ma’m in one case) while talking with them. Some of us make mistakes while we’re young but the important thing is to learn from them and never repeat it.
July 7th, 2014 at 12:56 pm
Meanwhile, Johnny Foolball is snorting pain killers in Vegas bathroom.
July 7th, 2014 at 2:02 pm
Coworker’s brother actually ended up being Spence’s lawyer. It’s a small world!
I have been told that the possession charges have been dropped due to illegal search and seizure as the officers did not follow proper procedure.
The speeding charge stuck.
July 7th, 2014 at 3:25 pm
Tom Says
“@Bonzai, as much as I hold JBF in high regard, I doubt Goodell is an avid reader to the point he picked up on that quote.
And as far as remorse goes, does he need to be self-flagellating over a speeding ticket and having weed in the car? Over half the state of Florida has probably done something MUCH worse.”
Don’t get me wrong, Tom, I actually like Spence as a player. But yeah, Goodell can hear of it. How? Because have the local and national reporters will use the quote and say “Per league sources, Spence shows no remorse over the incident.” It will hit tv. It will hit PFT (which Goodell does read).
So far as “self-flagellating” no. But he would have been wiser to just say “it was a mistake” instead of blowing it off, which he did. It shows immaturity and lack of remorse.
” Over half the state of Florida has probably done something MUCH worse.”
It doesn’t really matter what others are doing. Even if it were legalized, it would be against League Rules, just like certain cold suppressants. THAT is why he would and will be suspended.
It is a violation of the league substance abuse rules. First suspension is 4 games.
July 7th, 2014 at 3:26 pm
And WILL be reading the quote, because he reads the local news for every player he will be considering for suspension, I’d guess.
July 7th, 2014 at 9:37 pm
Buccaneer Bonzai Says:
It is a violation of the league substance abuse rules. First suspension is 4 games.
——————–
Actually, first offense is being put into the substance abuse frequent tested players program. The second offense is 4 games.
The first offense for PEDs is 4 games.