EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) The NFL has suspended Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Michael Floyd without pay Friday for the first four games of the regular season for violating its substance-abuse policy.
Floyd was arrested in Arizona in December after Scottsdale police found him unresponsive at the wheel of his vehicle while it was running at an intersection, reporting a blood alcohol level of 0.217 – more than 2 1/2 times legal limit in Arizona. He pleaded guilty in February to extreme drunken driving.
Last month, an Arizona judge ordered Floyd to serve one day in jail for failing alcohol tests while under house arrest for the drunken driving conviction. He blamed the results on a type of fermented tea called kombucha.
Floyd will be allowed to participate in all preseason practices and games. He can return to the active roster Oct. 2.
Released by the Arizona Cardinals after the arrest, Floyd signed with the New England Patriots and played in two regular-season games with one touchdown catch. He appeared in one playoff game, but wasn’t active for the AFC championship game or the Super Bowl. He agreed to a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Vikings in May that has incentives that could push the value as high as $6 million.
Floyd is a native of St. Paul, where he was a two-time winner of the Minnesota Associated Press Player of the Year award at Cretin-Derham Hall High School. After three alcohol-related incidents while in college at Notre Dame, including a drunken driving charge the summer before his senior season, Floyd underwent counseling and vowed to disassociate himself from certain people who’d influenced his behavior.
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