Jerry Hughes and two of his former-TCU teammates were arrested Sunday morning for public intoxication and disorderly conduct outside a Dallas nightclub. For those of you keeping score, this is the fifth alcohol-related arrest for the Colts in one year (sixth if you count Javarris James' weed bust last month). Since August of 2010, John Gill, Fili Moala, Pat McAfee, Taj Smith, and now Hughes were all busted for drinking and then doing stupid things after the drinking.
We officially have a problem, Colts fans.
Granted, the lockout makes it impossible for teams to monitor and track players when they are out on the town, especially when that town isn't Indianapolis. Still, one of the things the Colts sell to the fanbase is they only bring in 'high character' players who fit into the culture. The last year has pretty much shot that selling point to pieces, and calls into question whether or not the Colts truly value 'character' anymore.
Six arrests in one year? That's getting us ever closer to Cincinnati Bengals territory.
In case people care, the Colts never had a string of arrests like this under Tony Dungy's or Jim Mora's watches as head coach. Jim Caldwell apparently runs a looser ship, and he better be careful because if that looser ship produces fewer wins, 2011 will be Caldwell's last as a head coach in the NFL.
Jerry Hughes was selected No. 31 overall in the 2010 NFL Draft. He had a total of six tackles in 2010. 2011 is a big season for him. If he repeats his awful production of 2010, or fails to earn time on the field even as a reliable special teams player, he'll be yet another busted first round pick on the Bill Polian resume.