According to multiple reports coming from South Bend, star wide receiver Michael Floyd was arrested around 4 a.m. Sunday morning by campus police and booked into St. Joseph County jail on a suspected DUI charge. He was released seven hours later after posting a $500 bond.
Floyd’s arrest on the eve of spring practice is the first hiccup in an offseason that was almost too smooth for Irish fans’ comfort. It also makes his future with the Notre Dame football team a bit murky, after Floyd decided to pass up the NFL Draft and return to South Bend for his senior season and to graduate with his class.
If you’re looking for some historic perspective on what happens now, Irish fans can look at the best and worst case scenarios as they have played out over the years. Former Irish running back Rashon Powers-Neal was arrested for DUI over fall break during his final season with the Irish and never returned to the team. On the flip side of that coin was Mike Ragone’s arrest last May on misdemeanor marijuana charges after being pulled over in LaGrange County on his way home from school while speeding on the Indiana Toll Road. Ragone missed no time with the Irish and stayed enrolled in school.
This isn’t Floyd’s first brush with the law, as he was ticketed for underage drinking over winter break home in Minnesota just days after new coach Brian Kelly took the job. That started their relationship on a rocky footing, which improved enough for Kelly to name Floyd as one of two full-time captains for next season after spending the 2010 season rotating game captains.
We likely won’t hear much about this until Brian Kelly addresses the media at the kickoff of spring practice, a distraction the head coach can’t be too happy about just days before Notre Dame was set to take the field.