Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams was charged with one count of misdemeanor assault Wednesday for pushing a freelance photographer who was in his path as he entered a tunnel to the locker room after his team’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
Davante Adams charged with misdemeanor assault for shoving photographer
The citation, filed in Kansas City Municipal Court, stated Adams “did, by an intentional, overt act, inflict bodily injury or cause an unlawful offensive contact upon [Zebley] by pushing [him] to the ground using two hands causing whiplash and headache, possible minor concussion.”
The 29-year-old wide receiver is due to appear in court Nov. 10.
The NFL and the Raiders have not commented on the charge, and the league was reviewing the incident Tuesday for potential disciplinary action, a person familiar with the situation said. It was not immediately clear whether a suspension was under consideration or merely a fine. The Raiders’ bye week began Tuesday.
Adams, who kept moving after the encounter, quickly apologized in the locker room.
“Before I answer anything else, I want to apologize to the guy — some guy running off the field, and he ran, jumped in front of me when we’re coming off the field and I bumped into him, kind of pushed him, and I think he ended up on the ground,” Adams said (via ESPN). “I wanted to say sorry to him for that. That was frustration mixed with him running, literally running, in front of me, and I shouldn’t have responded that way. But that’s how I initially responded, so I want to apologize to him for that.”
He apologized again on Twitter, writing: “Sorry to the guy I pushed over after the game. Obviously very frustrated at the way the game ended and when he ran infront of me as I exited that was my reaction and I felt horrible immediately. That’s not me. MY APOLOGIES man hope you see this.”
With the 30-29 loss to their AFC West rival, the Raiders fell to 1-4, foiled in part by Coach Josh McDaniels’s decision to try a two-point conversion for the lead rather than an extra point for the tie after Adams scored on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr with 4:27 to play.
Adams, who rejoined his former Fresno State teammate Carr when he left the Green Bay Packers in an offseason trade, caught three passes for 124 yards and scored touchdowns of 58 and 48 yards, but the Raiders blew a 17-0 second-quarter lead in the loss.
He was clearly frustrated by a late-game series as he left the field after the team’s final offensive play with 46 seconds left. On fourth and one from the Las Vegas 46-yard line, Adams was running downfield as Carr let loose a deep pass, but Adams and fellow wide receiver Hunter Renfrow collided and the ball fell incomplete.
On the previous play, Adams seemed to have gotten a first down as he tiptoed on the sideline at the Kansas City 39. But the call was reversed by officials, who determined he had juggled the ball and failed to get both feet down inbounds.
McDaniels called the incident “an unfortunate situation” Tuesday afternoon.
“We obviously don’t want any of our guys to be doing anything like that,” McDaniels said. “He knows that. He’s very well aware of that. But I know the person; I don’t think there was any intent behind it on his part.
Mark Maske contributed to this report.
Source: WP
