Former Minnesota Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen was arrested on Thursday after being pulled over in Winona, MN, for operating his vehicle without an ignition-interlock device.
According to KROC-AM in Rochester, Griffen was stopped for speeding on Riverview Drive in Winona shortly after 8 p.m. when he was clocked traveling 62 mph in a 40 mph zone, via the Winona Police Department.
When pulled over, Griffen, who is on a four-year term of supervised probation after pleading guilty to third-degree DWI in Hennepin County in 2024, was found to be without the ignition-interlock device, which led to the 38-year-old’s arrest.
While there is nothing drug- or alcohol-related in the booking record, it’s still a disappointing chapter for the former Viking and a surprising one as someone who appeared to get his life in order in recent weeks.
Road to recovery for former Minnesota Vikings DE Everson Griffen’s hits another roadblock after latest arrest
Griffen has had numerous legal issues in the past, beginning with a September 2018 incident where he had to take a leave of absence from the team.
While he made the Pro Bowl during the 2019 season and played nine games with the Vikings during the 2021 season after a one-year detour with the Detroit Lions, his legal issues resurfaced when police and mental health professionals were called to his home midway through that campaign after he posted a video on Instagram of himself holding a gun and claiming people were trying to kill him.
The second incident led to an announcement that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but alcohol abuse sent his post-playing career into another nasty turn.
After being arrested on suspicion of impaired driving in 2023, he was convicted of DWI in Hennepin County in 2024, leading to the requirement for an ignition-interlock device as a term of his four-year probation.
Griffen had more legal issues where he was allegedly removed from a Delta Air Lines flight for “unruly behavior” and spent several days in jail while being ordered into chemical dependency treatment. Griffen was also convicted of misdemeanor reckless driving in August 2025 after driving 130 mph in a 60 mph zone on Interstate 494 in Minnesota.
The good news was that Griffen had kept clean since then and announced that he was close to reaching his one-year milestone of being sober on his Instagram account on July 10. The booking data also does not say that drugs or alcohol were involved, which is a silver lining if that is the case.
But it does bring Griffen back into the thoughts of Vikings fans. For a player who was a key part of the Minnesota defense during the 2010s, his post-playing career has generated plenty of concern and a hope that Thursday’s incident is the last.
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