To their credit, fewer players have been getting in trouble with the law in recent years. But that only makes some of the situations that arise more glaring and noticeable.
Buccaneers receiver DeSean Jackson has found himself in such a situation, thanks to a car that he owns being found wrecked into a tree. The problem arises from the marijuana and hollow-point bullets found inside it.
In what could be one of the more significant Christmas Eve car-tree collisions since George Bailey, the question is whether George or someone else was driving. (Maybe it was Uncle Billy.)
Regardless, Jackson has a problem, and he’ll now have to convince police that someone else was indeed driving the car he owns -- and in turn that any contraband in the car didn’t belong to Jackson.
For now, the Buccaneers have issued a perfunctory statement that acknowledges the situation, but that says nothing more.
“We are aware of a one-car accident involving a vehicle registered to DeSean Jackson on the night of Dec. 24,” G.M. Jason Licht said. “Our understanding is that DeSean has been in contact with authorities and is cooperating with the investigation.”
If Jackson ends up getting in any sort of trouble, $7.5 million in guarantees for 2018 could be wiped away from Jackson’s contract, allowing the Buccaneers to move on from Jackson after only one year, if they are so inclined.