Davante Adams faced an assault charge stemming from an incident making major NFL news last year during a Monday Night Football broadcast where television cameras caught the former Green Bay Packers wide receiver pushing freelance photographer Ryan Zebley (who was working for ESPN.) The criminal case is now closed.
NFL News: Davante Adams case dismissed this month
According to a report by Robert A. Conkleton with the Kansas City Star, a prosecutor dismissed the assault charge a few weeks ago:
“A prosecutor has dismissed a misdemeanor assault charge against Las Vegas Raiders’ wide receiver Davante Adams in the shoving of a video production crew member at Arrowhead Stadium last fall, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City municipal court said Friday.
The prosecutor dismissed the charge on June 5 and it is now considered a closed confidential case under Missouri law, said Benita Jones, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City Municipal Division.”
WSH Media reached out to the prosecutor’s office for comment, but none was given by the time of this publishing. According to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s website, the office works to keep the community safe and to secure justice for victims of violent crime:
“The office’s most essential task is the daily prosecution of criminal cases on behalf of crime victims. We file about 7,000 criminal charges per year, so that is a big task. But we also embrace our role in this community to work jointly with community partners to improve public safety with effective strategies that reduce and prevent crime, especially violence.
Crime injures not only the victim, but also the community as a whole. So we know we need the cooperation of the entire community and its citizens to achieve the fullest measure of justice and repair the harm that follows crime – for the crime victim and for the community.”
The civil case is still pending
Zebley has a pending lawsuit against Adams, the Las Vegas Raiders, and the Kansas City Chiefs. Per police records, Zebley suffered injuries, including whiplash, from the incident. He was taken to the hospital. Adams admitted to “kind of” pushing him after the incident and apologized to Zebley.
Here is footage of the incident:
Does anyone think Devante Adams would’ve pushed:
Roger Goodell
The ref
Uniformed police officerIf the answer is ‘no’ then the push wasn’t a ‘a reflex’. It was Adams taking out his frustration on someone he thought was less powerful than himpic.twitter.com/hUHx9A9qeg
— Ben Isaacs (see pinned tweet) (@tweetsfromben) October 11, 2022
The NFL could still punish Davante Adams
Mike Florio with NBC Sports wrote about Adams’ criminal case dismissal. Florio wrote the NFL could get involved now that the prosecutor’s office dismissed the criminal case against Adams. Adams could face a suspension:
“Now that the criminal case against Adams has been closed, the league quite possibly will take up the question of whether Adams should be punished.
Whether there’s a consequence shouldn’t be a question. The issue is whether Adams’s behavior justifies a suspension. And it could move fairly quickly, with Adams summoned for a meeting with the league followed by the activation of the formal hearing process, followed by an appeal.
The pending civil lawsuit likely won’t deter the league from proceeding. There’s no mystery in this one. It happened on camera. Everyone saw it.”
We’ll see what the NFL decides to do on this matter. Adams alleged shove is a bad look for ESPN and its partner, the NFL. People with credentials and who work on the field during games have a right to be protected and have a safe work environment.
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