Minnesota Vikings linebacker was arrested back in May

Minnesota Vikings linebacker Antwione Williams was arrested back in May for DWI and has already pleaded guilty to careless driving.

Ever since Mike Zimmer became the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings in 2014, the majority of the team’s players have done pretty well at keeping out of the local police blotter.

Only five players have been arrested or charged with a crime since Zimmer was hired to be the Vikings’ head coach. None of those guys (Jerome Simpson, Adrian Peterson, Tom Johnson, Jabari Price, Isame Faciane) are currently on Minnesota’s roster.

In fact, a week after Faciane was arrested for DUI, the Vikings decided to release him.

Well, apparently now Minnesota has a new player to add to their list of players arrested under Zimmer. The Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson reported on Thursday that current Vikings linebacker Antwione Williams was arrested on May 19 for DWI.

Williams blood-alcohol level when he was arrested at 2:22 a.m. was .09 and he was also charged with careless driving and speeding (clocked at 81 mph in a 55 mph zone).

In July, the DWI and speeding charges was dropped and the Minnesota linebacker plead guilty to the charge of careless driving.

He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, but he did not have to spend any time behind bars because he had already spent one day in jail when he was arrested and the other 29 days were, “set apart,” according to the Pioneer Press’ report.

Williams was also sentenced to one year of probation and he was ordered to complete a DWI assessment, which he has reportedly done already.

On Thursday, when Zimmer was asked about his linebacker’s arrest, the head coach said, “we followed the protocol and we did everything you can.”

Williams, who was signed to the Vikings’ practice squad last September, is currently the second-string linebacker behind Anthony Barr on the team’s most recent depth chart. He has been in the NFL since 2016 and was a member of the Detroit Lions before signing with Minnesota.

No suspension from the league has been handed down to Williams yet, but the NFL’s current Personal Conduct Policy does state that any player, “convicted of a crime or subject to a disposition of a criminal proceeding (is) subject to discipline.”

The Vikings already have two players (Kentrell Brothers and Cayleb Jones) set to serve suspensions this year and Williams could possibly become the third.