Josh Brent, defensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys, announced his retirement today.
Brent is voluntarily stepping away from professional football not because of an injury, or because he’s at the end of a long productive career. He’s retiring to get is life back in order.
“This is the right decision for me, and something that I have given a lot of thought to. I am at a point where my main focus is all about getting the priorities in my life in order,” Brent said in a statement released by the Cowboys. He is been dealing substance abuse problems and being charged with intoxication manslaughter.
On Dec. 8, 2012, Brent was driving his 2007 Mercedes down State Highway 114 in Irving, Texas when his car flipped. The accident killed his passenger and teammate, Jerry Brown Jr. After the crash, Brent’s blood alcohol was measured at more than twice the legal limit. His was 0.18 while Texas law says you’re too drunk to drive at 0.08.
Brent, who is free on a $100,000 bond, is waiting for his Sept. 23 court date. Depending on the verdict, he could face two decades in prison or could receive probation. The six-foot-two, 330-pound lineman spent a month in jail for drinking and driving back in 2009. That incident cost him his Illinois driving license.
Despite the horrific accident and the death of his teammate and close friend, Brent still hasn’t been able to kick his substance abuse problems. Last month, Brent was sentenced to ten days in the Dallas County Jail after marijuana was detected in his system. It was the second time he failed a drug test since the fatal accident.
He was released from jail on July 7 but a judge ordered him to wear a drug detection patch and has forbidden him from driving.
Brent goes back to court on Friday (July 19) to see if his bond will be revoked.
“Those priorities are more important than football. Doing the right things in life are more important than football. I love the game very much. I love my teammates, but this is the right thing for me to do,” Brent said.
The former Illinois Fighting Illini was selected by the Cowboys in the seventh-round of the 2010 supplemental draft.
In his three seasons in the NFL, Brent made five starts, played in 29 games, amassed 31 tackles, and made one and a half sacks. He also had a pass deflection and forced a fumble.
Brent crashed his car and killed his friend the day before the Cowboy’s Week 14 game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Although the team took no action against the nose tackle, Brent hasn’t played for the Cowboys since his wreck.
Brent’s retirement saves the NFL the trouble of having to discipline him. The league was going to rule on Brent’s status before the start of training camp. That would have been today or tomorrow since the Cowboys begin their training camp Saturday in Oxnard, California.
Now that Brent has retired neither the NFL nor the Cowboys will administer any punitive measures. This is causing some pundits to grouse that the lineman is escaping his sins much too easily.
The Cowboys didn’t want to release Brent because they wanted to keep his rights in case he returned from suspension. Those who know Brent say returning to football is the farthest thing from his mind.
If Brent does come out of retirement the league will need to approve his return.
When asked about the possibility of Brent returning, Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said “it’s premature.”
“I promised Jerry’s mother that we would support Josh in every way we could. That’s been our only thought since the accident is to support him and support our team in their support of him,” Jerry Jones told The Associated Press.
