Jimmy Smith Unlikely To Face Discipline, New Details Emerge

Dec 8, 2013; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith (22) warms up prior to the game against the Minnesota Vikings at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

Aaron Wilson at the Baltimore Sun is reporting that Jimmy Smith is unlikely to face league discipline for his arrest Saturday night.  Smith allegedly refused to leave a woman’s restroom at The Greene Turtle, a Baltimore bar and restaurant, and also cursed at police.  Smith was attempting to help a woman who was intoxicated and vomiting as a result.

The woman was reportedly a freelance photographer with whom Smith had participated in a photo shoot earlier that day. Smith stated that he did not know the woman prior to the photo shoot.  Complicating matters further, police found cocaine in the woman’s purse when they arrived.  It is believed that the woman overdosed on cocaine while in the restaurant bathroom.

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Smith insists he was trying to help the woman, but became belligerent when police asked him to leave the restroom. Once arrested, he was reportedly non-combative and cooperative.  Smith later stated that the only reason he was arrested was because the police “wanted to be on the news.”

The misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge that Smith faces is not serious and he is not believed to be in danger of discipline through the NFL’s personal conduct policy, though all arrests are reviewed by the league.

While the charge is not serious, the incident is an alarming one for a player who had character concerns coming out of college.  Even if he didn’t know the woman prior to Saturday and may not have known that she had drugs on her, it doesn’t look good for a player who failed a few drug tests in college.

Not only that, but Smith wouldn’t have even been arrested had he complied with the police’s request for him to leave the bathroom.  It doesn’t really make sense that he wouldn’t want to get out of the way and let professionals help the woman, who obviously needed medical attention.