Remember: when traveling, it’s best to leave your loaded guns at home. Louis Murphy, a free agent wide receiver most recently with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, apparently either forgot he had a loaded gun with him or was hoping nobody would find out. Murphy was arrested Wednesday morning at Tampa International Airport, because security did indeed find out.
Murphy had a loaded pistol inside a backpack at a security checkpoint. The gun had 11 rounds of ammunition. Murphy does not own a permit allowing him to carry the firearm. After being arrested an hour later, he was later released in the afternoon on a $2,000 cash bond.
Considering Murphy is now a free agent coming off a season-long knee injury, Murphy is now facing quite the uphill battle to sign with a team. If found guilty, Murphy could serve up to five years in prison for the third-degree felony. Having a gun arrest attached to you after sitting out a season with an injury will cause a number of teams to hit pause on their thinking process as it relates to a player.
In his eight seasons since leaving Florida, the former fourth-round draft pick has caught 162 passes for 2,322 yards and 10 touchdowns during stints with the Oakland Raiders, Carolina Panthers, New York Giants and Tampa Bay. He has not played a full season since appearing in 16 games for Carolina in 2012.
Football players and gun charges are nothing new, but having a free agent arrested on a gun charge is a new one. According to NFL Arrest.com‘s database of player arrests, this would be the first time a free agent has been arrested for a gun charge since 2000.
So, congrats on making history?
[ESPN]
Forrest Gump said it best ” Stupid is, Stupid Does!”