Sunday, 9:42am: It appears that this situation will blow over. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that Church was not actually arrested — Hayden, Wilson, and Harrison apparently were — but none of the four players were charged. London Police say the matter is “resolved.”
Rapoport says that the four men skipped out on a $64K bar tab, but that may have been due to a misunderstanding (video link). Apparently, expensive bottles of alcohol were being sent to their table, but they believed someone else was paying for them. They were therefore surprised when they were expected to pay.
In any event, it seems this incident will not have any impact on the team or the players moving forward.
Saturday, 9:15pm: The players arrested were Barry Church, D.J. Hayden, Jarrod Wilson, and Ronnie Harrison, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (Twitter link). All four players are defensive backs, which could explain why the team was so reluctant to name them in their statement.
Jacksonville is already shorthanded in the secondary and can’t afford to be without both Church and Harrison, so they will almost certainly still play. Church, a safety, plays nearly every down while Harrison, also a safety, has seen his snaps increase in recent weeks. Hayden was already unlikely to play with an injury, and Wilson is a lightly-used special-teamer.
Saturday, 9:05pm: Online reports from British tabloids began circulating that four Jaguars players had been arrested ahead of Jacksonville’s game in London, and now the team is confirming those reports, according to James Palmer of NFL Network (Twitter link).
The Jaguars released a very brief statement acknowledging what happened, which reads as follows: “We are aware that four of our players were detained over restitution of a bill. The matter is being resolved and the players are with the team. Any discipline will be handled internally.”
The statement is very light on details, and it hasn’t been reported yet which four players were detained. The original report from the British paper said the players were confronted by security at a nightclub and accused of trying to avoid paying their tab. While the team is clearly being intentionally vague, we should know more details soon. At this point, it’s unclear if the players will still play in the game against the Eagles tomorrow.
No matter what happens, it’s an awful look for a club that’s been in disarray for weeks now, with the news breaking 12 hours before they’re set to kick off. The locker room has reportedly turned toxic, with multiple shouting matches breaking out after their most recent loss. Blake Bortles was benched and is now on a very short leash, and this is the last thing the team needs.
The NFL has made expanding the game into the London market a major focal point in recent years, and the league office will likely be outraged at the optics. While the Jaguars have said any discipline will be internal, commissioner Roger Goodell may disagree.
Rory Parks contributed to this post.
Go jags!! Lmao!! Not!! Skipping out on a bill when you make millions pathetic!
Leaving without paying, no matter your income, is a total scumbag move.
Agreed.
Wow! These anti Jacksonville comments are even funnier than Benny Hill. Should I bother to point out that Britain wouldn’t even exist if America hadn’t come to the rescue back in the 1940s. As for the Jags being cheapskates ask yourself when the royals with their millions ever paid for anything. They are the ultimate freeloaders.
Yeah! What those guys did is fine, because the Royal Family sucks, and they did it in Britain so it doesn’t count! That’s a ridiculous argument.
What is ridiculous is that everyone supports the hypocrisy of the Brits. If the situation was reversed and four players from a British sports team were arrested in America for not paying some mickey mouse hotel bill, the tabloids in England would be screaming bloody murder, claiming Americans were unjust devils.
This may be the worst comment I’ve ever read. You took the opportunity of replying to people that don’t like the Jags to break out some deep seeded hatred of a country you’ve most likely never been too. England is also not the point of this article. The only way they are involved is because it happened in their country. I’m sure those commenting are not even from England. Oh and just for the record you would probably live there if they had not colonized this country.
For the actual article I would actually like to here the story. Did someone say they didn’t have to pay and changed it? I’m sure they didn’t just try to skip on the bill or you would here this crap all the time.
You’re insane.
Do you really think the allies would’ve lost the war if the US didn’t join?
Who, me? Or the crazy-crosseyedlemon guy? ‘Cause I didn’t say that, nor do I think it’s worthy of a discussion, especially considering the context here.
What are they doing in a nightclub the night before a game? Pathetic…..
where and when they skipped out on the bill isn’t the problem…it’s the fact they skipped out on the bill. It could have been at dinner. It could have been at breakfast. Who cares, when and where?
Pro athletes brotha
Entitlement….. it’s what is wrong with most athletes and a lot of Americans in general. It’s sad
Probably thought they were getting comp service and hit with a massive bill.
Not sure if anyone here has ever done bottle service but the up charge in some of these places is 1000%.
Exactly what happened, thought they were being comped then found out they owed over $46000.00 ouch
“Exactly what happened?” How in the hell do you know what happened ? Did you even read the article ? You can’t even get the facts straight that were written in it. It was $64,000
Downs?
Always a real good move. Go to another country and break the law. Man, the Jags have become a real loser team.
I live in Europe and I can tell you that some of these nightclubs/bars are scam operators who hire entraineuses (trainers) to push the visitors to order really expensive champagne with no price notification. These nightclubs/bars have local police in their pocket but also know what they are doing is illegal. If you just refuse to pay for what you didn’t drink and what is priced at scam prices (€2000/£2000 champagne or white wine) they will eventually stand down. Not without making a lot of physical threats and noise.
I wouldn’t necessarily blame the players until I heard more about the situation.
Has there ever been a team that went from conference title contender to joke as fast as the Jags? Joke of a team on and off the field
Maybe they should kneel before the game during the British anthem for all the hardship Britain police has brought to them.
Might be difficult to do since the Brits don’t bother with any anthem playing before football matches.
They play both anthems before the nfl games.
Ha! Love it!
Funny how when someone’s accused of beating their significant other tons of people rush to say “innocent until proven guilty” but when their accused of skipping on a bill they’re automatically guilty.
Apples…oranges. When a crew bolts and doesn’t pay the bill there isn’t much of a defense, you either paid the bill or didn’t pay the bill – they didn’t!
Turns out it wasn’t that simple….
But it was, they didn’t pay the bill. Thanks!
Fake news^ everyone always jumps straight to your guilty, pretty much every time no matter the situation.
What, you didn’t get the memo? It’s ok to lie, cheat and steal if you’re rich and famous now. Welcome to the United States of Trump.
???
Trump? Yeah the Clintons didn’t lie, cheat and steal, only difference was they weren’t rich at that time.
And you, Polish Hammer, are the reason pro-Trump people don’t get taken seriously. “But… but… THE CLINTONS” isn’t ever a real argument. A real argument would
be that the rich and famous have always been able to lie, cheat, and steal, it’s not just a trump thing.
And you’re the reason why nobody takes Sux fans serious, go back into hibernation…
Given the age, health, and contract situation of the Cubs, it’s quite possible they’re due for another rebuild in a few years. Cubs fans better hope Epstein makes better decisions from this point on, because his recent roster moves don’t bode well for the future. The sun is setting on the north side.
You are the reason anti-Trump people don’t get taken seriously.
No, borderline personality disorder and psychopathic GOP supporters are the reason critics of Trump don’t get taken seriously. Fortunately for them, a segment of the population lives in fear of everything that does not look, sound, or act like them. Unfortunately for Trump, the Constitution and the mechanisms of democracy will prevail.