The Dallas Cowboys parted ways with Lucky Whitehead after he was arrested for allegedly shoplifting and subsequently failed to appear in court. Whitehead denied he was even in the same state as the incident took place. He stat across the table from Coach Garrett and told him he was innocent to which, Garret reported replied, “I don’t believe you.” Well, it turns out that Lucky Whitehead was never actually arrested for shoplifting, therefore he couldn’t fail to appear in court. Someone else was arrested and provided Lucky Whitehead’s information. Sidenote: The fact someone can pretend to be someone else and have it go this far is wild to me. It’s 2017!
TMZ: The police officers who thought they arrested Lucky Whitehead — when in reality they arrested an imposter — will not be suspended for the mistake … officials tell TMZ Sports.
We spoke with Prince William PD’s Sgt. Perok, who believes the officers acted reasonably on June 22 when they identified the man who allegedly shoplifted from a convenience store as “Rodney Darnell Whitehead, Jr.”
Officers say the man did not have an official I.D. on him so they asked for his name, birthday and social security number — ran that information through the DMV system and matched the suspect up with the photo of Lucky Whitehead on file.
Sgt. Perok says despite the mistaken identity, “The officers’ actions were reasonable and they acted in good faith.”
We’re also told there will not be an internal investigation.
Of course, the REAL Lucky Whitehead was not even in the state of Virginia at the time of the incident — and claimed from the start that cops had identified the wrong guy.
What does this have to do with anything? Whitehead was dismissed BECAUSE of the incident, which now gives him a case against the Cowboys. Had the team waited and just cut him because of performance, they would be fine.
ProFootballTalk: “The best argument possibly comes from paragraph 11 of the Standard Player Contract, which authorizes termination “if Player has engaged in personal conduct reasonably judged by Club to adversely affect or reflect on Club.” If Whitehead actually didn’t engage in the conduct that the team deemed him guilty of engaging in, the termination could be challenged.”
It will be an uphill battle for the Whitehead camp and the NFLPA, but they may have a case. The main thing they need to prove is that Lucky Whitehead would have made the final 53 man roster. Can they do that? Who knows…
Dallas Cowboys: “Well, Lucky Whitehead, you’re basically guilty until proven innocent. Sorry, bruh.”