Browns Take Swift Action After Young Player's Arrest
![Mar 2, 2023; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kansas linebacker Lonnie Phelps (LB25) participates in drills during the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports Mar 2, 2023; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kansas linebacker Lonnie Phelps (LB25) participates in drills during the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_6554,h_3686,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/251/01j0vq92d9yzf0mstk2r.jpg)
It’s nice to see the Browns taking a player’s off-field actions into account for once.
Cleveland waived defensive end Lonnie Phelps on Thursday afternoon, less than 24 hours after he was arrested for DUI.
The former practice squad player allegedly crashed his SUV into a restaurant in Key West and was nothing short of belligerent with police, according to TMZ.
Phelps an Easy Player to Waive
An undrafted player out of Kansas, Phelps didn’t wind up taking any snaps for Cleveland last year.
So when he was arrested for DUI on Wednesday night, it was understandably an easy call to waive him.
The Browns already have two dynamic defensive ends in Myles Garrett and Za’Darius Smith along with two rotational ends who had 4.5+ sacks last year in Alex Wright and Ogbo Okoronkwo – leaving no room for Phelps anyways.
It had to be an even easier decision considering the details of Phelps’s arrest.
Another #Browns player got arrested. DE Lonnie Phelps got drunk and drove his car into a restaurant. Highlights include:
— Roberto Shenanigans (@Rob_Shenanigans) June 20, 2024
- "Females be tryna kill me!"
- "You didn't turn no heat on!" (it was 84°)
- "Before a George Wentz incident... can I get some water!?" https://t.co/WSaP7ze202 pic.twitter.com/ZjcmqgWqXF
According to TMZ, Phelps talked over police, disobeyed orders and made derogatory comments to the woman police officer who arrested him.
"Phelps talked about how thirsty he was," one officer wrote in the report, according to TMZ, "how he did not know what I was going to do to him because females are the worst, asked me not to kill him, asked me how long it takes to bail out, how long I was the detective and informed me I was Russian."
To top it off, Phelps refused to take a breathalyzer once in custody and then urinated on himself while sitting in a chair.
It’s a nice change of pace for Cleveland to waive a player due to his reprehensible off-field conduct.
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