Aggie Athlete’s DWI Charge Highlights DWI Risks

 Posted on September 09, 2022 in Uncategorized

Every year brings another one of these unfortunate stories of a college athlete's DWI charge suddenly placing the athlete's school scholarship and sports future at risk. A recent story broke about a star Texas A&M Aggies wide receiver suffering arrest on DWI, weapons, and marijuana possession charges. The unfortunate story ran not just in local but also state and national press. The arrest occurred in the middle of a weeknight after police stopped the athlete driver for allegedly speeding. A field sobriety test ensued, leading to the DWI arrest. A vehicle search allegedly turned up a loaded firearm and a small amount of marijuana, resulting in the additional charges.

Immediate Impacts of College Athlete DWI Arrest

The arrest and charge of the Aggies wide receiver, entering his senior season as a team captain and the team's leading receiver the prior season, may well have placed his pro sports future at stake. The press reports indicated his prompt suspension from the school's team, as Texas A&M policies required. The Aggies wide receiver also missed his team's press day leading up to his senior season, while the team's head coach and other officials looked into the matter. While the athlete was his team's leading receiver the prior season, he doubtless had a lot yet to prove in his senior season. Otherwise, he would not have returned for his senior season and would instead have entered the NFL, like one of his Aggies receiver teammates did. As long as the unfortunate athlete remained on suspension with his DWI charge pending, he could not improve his receiving skills on the team and gain the greater notoriety he sought for a pro career. A DWI arrest can quickly put a pro career on hold and at risk.

Scholarship Impacts of College Athlete DWI Arrest

Whether the Aggies athlete's future included a National Football League career or not, the 21-year-old athlete certainly had a lot else at stake in the criminal proceeding following his arrest. College athletics mean much more than simply a stepping stone into the pro ranks. A full-ride athletics scholarship also pays for the education, room, and board. College doesn't typically come cheap. One usually has tuition to pay and then the other big part of room and board. Avoiding spending down savings, and further avoiding incurring substantial educational debt, can be a huge win for a college graduate. Indeed, a free education is usually the college athlete's greater gain over a pro career that very few college athletes actually win. Yet a DWI charge and the following necessary suspension from college athletics puts the scholarship at risk.

Other Impacts of a College Athlete's DWI Charge

As serious as the loss of a pro career and college scholarship can be for an aspiring athlete, college athletes can still have more at risk when facing DWI arrest. Scholarship college athletics isn't just a free training ground for a pro career. College athletes are also learning knowledge and skills, developing character, and preparing for productive lives and careers. Ask almost any forty, fifty, or sixty-year-old former college athlete, even one who had a short pro career, and they'll likely tell you how much their college athletics meant to their overall development. College athletics shapes the athlete for other roles and careers, and not just in sports physiology or sports management but also in medicine, law, engineering, and dozens of other valuable careers. A DWI charge and conviction can cost the athlete the scholarship and education and, with those losses, the loss of other jobs and careers. DWI convictions have many collateral consequences affecting business licenses, international travel, security clearances, immigration status, and a host of other interests. And with those losses come other significant personal, family, and social losses.

DWI Criminal Defense Services for College Athletes

The attorney who defends a scholarship college athlete on a DWI charge needs to know and protect all of the above interests. Swift and sure handling of the DWI charge could, for instance, result in the charge's prompt dismissal. Fortunately, that was the outcome for the above Texas A&M athlete, whom school officials then promptly reinstated to the team. A charge is not a conviction. But a college athlete, especially a prominent athlete on scholarship in a major sports program, will very likely need premier services from a DWI Specialist to gain the best result. Police, crime labs, and prosecutors must follow certain rules and procedures relating to DWI evidence and charges. Premier DWI criminal defense attorney services can challenge evidence, enforce constitutional and statutory rights, and invoke protective procedures. But to be effective, those DWI criminal defense services take special skills and experience. DWI defense is highly technical, dependent, among many other things, on sophisticated knowledge of physiology, science, and laboratory methods. If you are a college athlete facing DWI charges, you need premier DWI defense attorney services to protect all that you have at stake.

Premier Houston DWI Defense Attorney Services

If you are a college athlete facing DWI charges in the greater Houston area, or anywhere else in Texas, then you have a premier national DWI defense attorney available for your aggressive and effective representation. Houston DWI defense attorney Doug Murphy is US News & World Report's Best Lawyers in America 2023 Lawyer of the Year for DWI defense. Attorney Murphy is one of only two attorneys in the entire State of Texas holding both DWI Board Certification and Criminal Law Certification. The Houston Press has even named attorney Murphy the Drinking Driver's Best Friend. These are just a few of attorney Murphy's dozens of professional credits. You cannot retain a better DWI defense attorney than Houston's own Doug Murphy. If you are a college athlete facing DWI charges in Houston or another Texas locale, look no further than DWI Specialist attorney Doug Murphy for your premier defense.