Posted
on Fri, Feb. 10, 2006
NFL player offers
apology for incident
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
FORT WORTH -- Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams has offered an apology to his family,
friends and the Broncos organization for his involvement in an incident with
police Sunday night.
Williams, a graduate of O.D. Wyatt High School, was
cited for playing his car stereo too loud, and a passenger in his
Chevrolet Impala was arrested for possession of marijuana.
"I am sorry for any embarrassment I may have caused the family and my
teammates," Williams said Tuesday. "It is a learning experience for
me. I have to be more careful with what I do and things of that nature."
Williams, however, maintains that he did nothing wrong.
According to a Fort Worth police report, officers had planned to hold
Williams, 23, after finding less than an ounce of a green leafy substance that
appeared to be marijuana in an armrest. They instead arrested his 19-year-old
passenger, DeAngelo Stevenson, after Stevenson said,
"The weed's mine."
Stevenson was booked into the Mansfield Jail and released Monday morning
after posting bail. Williams was released at the scene after being cited for
the loud music, a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a $210 fine.
The incident near Williams' grandmother's house escalated when a crowd of
about 30 people began walking up, cursing at the police and demanding to know
why Williams was being detained. Additional officers were called for backup.
Officers even pointed a Taser at Williams briefly
after he allegedly resisted being handcuffed. He was forced to the ground and
told not to stand up. He was released when Stevenson admitted that the
marijuana was his.
Williams said he understands why the officers "got paranoid when all
the neighbors came out and called backup." But he said he wasn't resisting
arrest, he was just trying to explain himself.
"Those are my people, and they know I wouldn't do anything wrong,"
Williams said. "But I wasn't resisting arrest. I was trying to tell them
who I was and that I was a law-abiding citizen."
Williams, a second-round pick of the Broncos in 2005 out of Oklahoma State
University, is coming off a successful rookie season with the Broncos. He was
named to the NFL's All-Rookie Team and helped the Broncos reach the AFC title
game.
Williams said he came home to buy his mother a new house. He plans to be in
Fort Worth a couple of more weeks before returning to Denver.
"All this is new to me," Williams said. "Fortunately it
wasn't anything major. It certainly won't happen again."