UPDATE: Santonio Holmes has been declared inactive by Tomlin and will not play on Sunday
Wonderful. First domestic violence issues and now Holmes is getting arrested for weed possession. Patriots RB Kevin Faulk plead guilty to the same exact charge a while ago and was hit with a 1 game suspension. So, if Holmes is guilty (which remains to be seen) he’s likely looking at 1 game.
From WPXI.com
Steeler Santonio Holmes Accused Of Marijuana Possession
Thursday, October 23, 2008 – updated: 10:52 pm EDT October 23, 2008
PITTSBURGH — Police cited Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes on charges of marijuana possession Thursday afternoon.Pittsburgh police said Holmes was driving a SUV with out-of-state license plates near Mellon Arena. The vehicle matched the description of one linked to a crime, so officers made an investigatory stop.“When they pulled him over, they found there was a smell of burnt marijuana in the vehicle,” said Sgt. James Vogel. “Mr. Holmes was very cooperative with officers and turned over some items to us and was subsequently summoned for those items…a couple of marijuana blunts.”Police said Holmes turned over three marijuana cigars. Officers charged Holmes with one misdemeanor count of possession of a small amount of marijuana. Holmes was given a summons to court and released.Vogel said Holmes was very cooperative, respectful and wasn’t impaired. He thinks that should be taken into account when it comes to any potential action taken against him by the Steelers and the NFL.“We wouldn’t expect a steelworker to be laid off or suspended without pay,” said Vogel. “I wouldn’t expect a police officer, firefighter or a member of the Steelers.”The Steelers did not have any comment.The NFL policy for substance abuse says for a first violation, the NFL could fine and suspend a player without pay for up to four regular games or six games for a second violation.
here’s the timeline in faulk’s case:
feb.2008: caught at li’l wayne concert with mr. ganja
july.2008: plead no contest to possession
aug.2008: suspended for 1 game (after the sentencing)
sep.2008: missed 1st game of the season
so maybe holmes’s court date won’t be until 5mos later, in march, and he’ll get his suspension next season. i definitely don’t think he’s suspended this sunday, or for at least a few weeks, if this season at all.
Oh Boy….
Innocent until proven guilty doesn’t have to apply in the NFL. That’s only in the eyes of the law. Goodell could suspend him right now if he wanted to.
Update from the Trib
Tomlin has already declared that Holmes will be inactive for the Giants game. I don’t want to sound negative but this was going to be a close game and I don’t think we can win it without Holmes. Aaron Smith has also not practiced this week.
Why is he inactive? Tomlin stated that he was not suspended by the team.
Yep, just saw that. Updated the post as well.
Not good. Gotta rely on the short-to-intermediate passing game and to not have Holmes is a big deal. His teammates should be furious.
Aaron Smith is listed as questionable as well for “personal reasons”. Not the best week.
Did we have to crack down on Holmes for this game? Couldn’t we have waited a little? What he did was stupid no doubt, but it isn’t like he hurt anyone.
Alex- I think that cracking down on him for this game is very important. This is one of their biggest games of the season, and for him to be suspended for it, it lets him know that he’s let his team down when they needed him the most.
Once a you’re a Buckeye, you’ll always be a dumbass!
Sounds like the cop is a Steelers fan. When have you ever heard one of them making a case for the criminal?
What he said:
“We wouldn’t expect a steelworker to be laid off or suspended without pay,” said Vogel. “I wouldn’t expect a police officer, firefighter or a member of the Steelers.
What he meant:
“Damn, I can’t believe we had to arrest him right before the Giants game. The Steelers need him. If he hadn’t handed over the blunts right in front of the dashboard camera we would have let him go in a heartbeat. Please don’t suspend him! Please?!”
HA. exactly. Almost like he put the cop in a position where he HAD to arrest him or take it to the next level. You’d think some cops would have let him go on his merry way.
Missing the particular game will hurt the team more than Holmes. His teammates are just as likely to blame the coaches for deactivating him as they are to be mad at him for buying some pot.
You can tell the cop didn’t want to be put in this position, odds are he is a fan.
This incident bring up a very interesting and important question.
WHY is marijuana still illegal?! It’s a joke. Every other country that’s worth a damn laughs at us for it. A person who smokes pot doesn’t hurt anyone else by doing it, and compared to plenty of other drugs, it’s not even that harmful to the user. It provides an enormous amount of pain relief compared to its few side effects and is far less addictive than other pain relieving drugs of similar strength. NFL football players are downing anti-inflammatories like they come out of a Good & Plenty box, blowing up their livers and kidneys, many more of them becoming addicted than the media talks about. As far as I’m concerned, weed is a better solution than that.
I agree, Jon. I’d feel much differently if he was caught driving and under the influence. This seems pretty minor.
The bottom line here is that Rooney doesn’t put up with this kind of shit for long.
Holmes has had 3 or 4 run-ins with the law already and I’m inclined to believe that 1 more time may be his last ….
He’ll be traded if he fucks up again. Mark my words …
Hey Dillweed!
Why don’t you diss Santanio and ship him over to the Buckeye state and let him play for the Browns and burn the Steelers for the next 6-7 years. He’s one hellava ball player and I learned to accept his annual transgressions as a Buckeye. If he is the only Steeler to burn one from time to time, I’d be surprised.
You must be a Nittany Lion fan to make the Buckeye comment…so I’d look in the mirror before calling out dumb asses.
Lets not get too crazy, this is a misdemeanor. Its not even a crime in most of the planet.
He had charges before that were dropped and then nothing for two years.
Big Ben’s 4 picks were more of a factor than Santonio’s hemp-fest…and by the way he’s from Florida anyway, not Ohio.
I thought Tressel would of taught him better!??! He should go back and get some life lessons from his old college.
- Todd Charske
He’s from Belle Glade, FL.
Tressel doesn’t exactly have a great rep in terms of recruiting “good kids” or turning bad ones around.
Recruiting good guys and making men better are different. Tressel is a class act anyone that thinks different doesn’t have a clue.
By the way Dillweed you’re name says it all.
- Todd Charske
Guess winning the Superbowl for the Steelers changes all this? Scary.
Todd Charske
His hearing is today actually…
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_613514.html