New England Patriots free agent receiver Donte’ Stallworth suffered serious burns Saturday after a hot air balloon carrying him and two other people crashed into power lines in Homestead Fla., according to his agent Drew Rosenhaus.
“He’s going to be OK,” Rosenhaus said to ESPN.com. “He has some burns, but he’s going to be fine. He will be able to continue his NFL career. The injuries are not to the extent they will jeopardize his career.”
Rosenhaus added that one of the passengers in the hot air balloon was Stallworth’s girlfriend, but declined to say if she was injured or not. However, a source close to Stallworth informed ESPNBoston.com’s Mike Reiss that Stallworth’s girlfriend sustained injuries and is stable condition.
According to Miami-Dade Police spokesman Roy Rutland, the basket carrying three passengers crashed into the power lines while airborne. Ruthland said that two of the passengers were injured and transported to a trauma center; the third passenger in the basket escaped injury.
Rutland passed additional questions to the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB had no immediate information about the crash, according to ESPN.com.
Stallworth, who is a 10-year NFL veteran, only played in the one game last season for the Patriots. He then went on the injured reserve with an ankle injury. It was his second stint with Patriots. Stallworth’s best season with the team came in 2007 when he played in 16 games, catching 46 passes for 697 yards. For his career he has 4,837 receiving yards and 35 touchdowns.
Stallworth last made headlines in 2009 after a car he was driving struck and killed a 59-year-old man in South Florida in March of that year. He pled guilty to DUI manslaughter, which resulted in a 30-day in jail sentence and reached a settlement with victim’s family for an undisclosed amount of money. He was suspended by the NFL for the entire 2009 season.
