Runners-up: a couple of NFL players and a big-wave surfer
Former NFL Linebacker Steve Foley, 32, charged with failure to secure two pit bulls, which bit his neighbor on her arms and face before killing her puppy. Foley, who played from 1998 through 2006 with the Bengals, Texans and Chargers, ended his career by driving with a blood alcohol level of .23 per cent at 3 a.m., weaving erratically at speeds ranging from 30 to 90 m.p.h. and getting shot by an off-duty police officer who was trying to get him off the road while Foley’s girlfriend tried to run the officer over. Incredibly, he was allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of DUI and sentenced to five years probation. He now faces two to 10 years in prison. Steve, be sure to tell the world”and the judge”that this is the term you should have been required to serve after having been an accessory to attempted murder in 2006.
Former NFL star quarterback Ken Stabler, 62, now a radio analyst for University of Alabama football, charged with DUI. This is not his first. He pleaded no contest to a charge of DUI in 1995 and guilty to another one in 2001. He led the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl title in 1977. Ken, remember how your early-stage alcoholism fueled your egomania and compelled you to win that title? Consider now, DUI by DUI, you’re slipping into late-stage alcoholism. Get sober, before you kill someone.
Big-wave surfer Milton Willis, 51, whose alcoholism killed his 24-year-old passenger in a single vehicle incident. Willis, who was not wearing a seat belt (clue # 2 under the heading, “A sense of invincibility,”in “Get Out of the Way! How to Identify and Avoid a Driver Under the Influence”) was seriously injured after losing control while driving in Del Mar, California at 65 mph in a 25-mph zone and striking a palm tree. Investigators believe alcohol was a “major factor”in the tragedy. I hypothesize in “Get Out of the Way!” a high probability of DUI and, therefore, alcoholism when speeding markedly over the limit. Taking extraordinary risks, even in one’s line of work, is also often an excellent clue to addiction. Milton, like Evel Knievel, you provide exciting entertainment for the rest of us. But should you survive, it’s time to get clean and tell the world how your addiction drove you and that the bad results outweighed the good.