On Saturday October 5th ,2024, former Cleveland Browns safety Jabril Peppers was arrested in Braintree Massachusetts. The charges being reported are strangulation and drug possession. According to the authorities Peppers will be charged with “assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, strangulation, and possession of a class B substance believed to be cocaine”. He is expected to be arraigned early this week in Quincy Massachusetts district court. ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the story on Monday.

Jabril Peppers was a standout star at the University of Michigan, he was the 25th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. He played for the Cleveland Browns for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He was then traded to the New York Giants as a part of the infamous Odell Beckham Junior trade. He played the following three seasons with the Giants. His 2021 season ended in week 7 with a torn ACL injury. In April of 2022 Peppers joined the New England Patriots as a free agent and has remained with the Patriots since.

On Monday morning the New England Patriots released a statement regarding the arrest of Peppers. The statement said “we are aware of the incident involving Jabril Peppers which the police are currently investigating. We have no further comment at this time.”  Jabril Peppers is 29 years old, and he did not play last Sunday in the loss to the Miami Dolphins 15-10. He was inactive for the game due to a shoulder injury.

This incident is another sad episode for many professional athletes that find themselves in legal trouble. For Jabril’s sake I hope that he didn’t do this. And if he is guilty of these crimes, he should receive justice just as anybody else would in this situation. If anything, good can come out of this for Peppers, it might be a life lesson he had to learn the hard way.