Dallas Cowboys nose tackle Jay Ratliff was arrested last week by Grapevine, Texas, police for driving while intoxicated. According to Grapevine police on Monday, Ratliff’s blood alcohol content was 0.16 percent, which is twice the legal limit.
Ratliff’s arrest came on Jan. 22 after his pickup truck sideswiped an 18-wheeler and slammed into a median protector on State Highway 114 in Grapevine. No injuries were sustained to either driver in the crash, but the driver’s side door of Ratliff’s 2011 Ford truck was heavily damaged.
According to the police report, Ratliff failed three sobriety tests at the scene of the accident and refused a breathalyzer test. He also showed 12 signs of intoxication while taking the sobriety tests. Police obtained a search warrant for the four-time Pro Bowler’s blood sample.
Ratliff bonded out of Grapevine jail the same day he was arrested. According to ESPNDallas.com, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Ratliff spoke the next day about his arrest.
Calvin Hill, who is a consultant for the Cowboys’ player development program, said in a statement Monday that both sides have been in constant communication since the incident.
“The critical goal is to effect the decision making process in the hours before the wrong decision is made,” Hill said in reference to Ratliff’s poor decision making.
Ratliff was the second Cowboy nose tackle to be arrested and charged recently with DWI. In early December, backup nose tackle Josh Brent was charged with intoxication manslaughter when he got behind the wheel after drinking at a nightclub and killed outside linebacker Jerry Brown. Brent and Brown were college teammates at the University of Illinois and Brown was on the Cowboys practice squad.
Brent’s blood alcohol content at the time of the accident was 0.189 percent. He is now facing up to 20 years in prison after being indicted on one count of intoxication manslaughter. Brent is free on $100,000 bond and the court has mandated he wear an alcohol monitor.
“Our player assistance programs in the areas of preventing incidents such as these are at the highest level in professional sports, but we are always looking to do better and for ways to improve,” Hill said.
Ratliff was recently plagued with injuries and missed most of the second half of the season. He underwent season-ending surgery to repair a sports hernia on Dec. 13.
