BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) Richie Incognito, the NFL offensive lineman who was once suspended for bullying a teammate, was taken into custody Wednesday for psychiatric examination after an incident at a Florida gym.
Boca Raton police spokeswoman Jessica Desir said officers received a call Wednesday morning from a patron at Life Time Gym about a disturbance involving Incognito. He was taken into custody under Florida’s Baker Act, which allows for involuntary psychiatric commitment for people seen as a danger to themselves or others. She did not have details about the disturbance.
The 34-year-old Incognito announced this year that he was retiring after 11 seasons in the NFL, the last three with the Buffalo Bills. The Bills released him from their reserved/retired list on Monday, leaving open the possibility he could sign with another team.
The four-time Pro Bowl selection has had a series of troubles. Incognito was among the players identified for targeting teammate Jonathan Martin in the Miami Dolphins’ bullying scandal during the 2013 season. The NFL suspended Incognito for the final half of the season and he was eventually released by Miami before being reinstated by the league the following offseason.
Incognito was out of football for 18 months before the Bills provided him a second chance by signing him to a one-year contract.
Incognito has been on a downward spiral for much of this offseason.
His closest friend on the Bills, center Eric Wood, is being forced into retirement after being diagnosed with a career-ending neck injury in January.
The Bills also asked Incognito to take a pay cut in restructuring the final year of his contract. Incognito initially backed the agreement by posting a note on Twitter saying he was ”thrilled to be returning this season and fired up to get back to work with my Buffalo Bills brothers.”
He, however, had a change of heart weeks later when Incognito abruptly fired agent David Dunn in a post on Twitter.
A week later, Incognito posted a series of vague Tweets which eventually led to him announcing his retirement. He included the accounts of the NFL Players’ Association and the union’s assistant executive director, George Atallah, by posting a note that read, ”I’m done,” followed” by a winking emoji with its tongue stuck out.
He sent the same message in a text to The Associated Press later in the day.
Incognito continued posting a variety of tweets over the next five days before abruptly stopping. He hasn’t tweeted since posting his last messages on April 15, in which he said he was visiting his mother in New Jersey.
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