Gerard Lawson, pictured to the far left, was on the losing White Team during Saturday afternoon's scrimmage.
According to reports, Cleveland Browns defensive back Gerard Lawson was arrested on DUI charges Saturday night.
According to Cleveland police, 25-year-old defensive back, Gerard Lawson, was arrested sometime after 11 p.m. Saturday on DUI and hit-skip charges.
Sgt. Sammy Morris says, Lawson struck a parked car on West 6th Street and didn't stop. Cuyahoga County sheriff's deputies were in the area transporting a prisoner and witnessed the incident.
I know that 11:00 p.m. might not be late to some people, but to me, that would seem like the type of time that a curfew would be set. During the team's Brown vs. White scrimmage Saturday afternoon, Lawson was on the losing White team. That means that he should have been one of the players under curfew.
Let's see here...
I think you can see where I'm going with this.
0 recs | 68 comments
nothing good happens when you’re out after 11pm. good luck in the future, gerard.
Dawg Nuts - August 8, 2010
That said, this was bad.
rufio - August 9, 2010
I think you’re wrong. Plenty of good stuff happens after 11.
TheRealSlimShady - August 9, 2010
not when you’re a pro athlete it doesn’t.
Dawg Nuts - August 9, 2010
Ok, that’s probably fair. I have plenty of safe fun after 11pm.
rufio - August 10, 2010
11 is not that late. It’s perfectly possible for pro athlete to be out after 11 and be safe.
Villeslgr - August 10, 2010
way to drunken drive your ass off the roster gerard.
BrutalMovement - August 8, 2010
Gerard Lawson proceded to secure himself a spot…on the the reserve/suspended list.
Bumblyjack - August 9, 2010
Only morons drink and drive. :D
Brownie's Year - August 9, 2010
only morons get caught :)
jsneides - August 9, 2010
he was probably profiled. there are a couple of cops in cleveland who do that…
Dawg Nuts - August 9, 2010
iswydt
Villeslgr - August 10, 2010
I’m sick and tired of hearing about this kind of stupidity, lack of common sense, and lack of respect for authority. I say make a statement and cut him. You can’t count on him to abide by the rules.
dawgtribe - August 9, 2010
The problem with making a blanket statement is that the first time a superstar does something stupid, we would be hypocritical to not cut that player.
Roger Dorn - August 9, 2010
I would like, just once, to see a superstar of any form actually pay for their crimes like you and I would.
Kimble_79 - August 9, 2010
a DUI wouldn’t necessarily cost you your job would it?
notthatnoise - August 9, 2010
Not unless you’re in the military
allovertheplace - August 9, 2010
You mean like Plaxico Burres being sent to jail for shooting himself with a handgun, a rather small offense (comparitively) which injured nobody but himself?
I get really, really tired of fans complaining that athletes always get away with offenses. That’s just not true.
Buckeye Brad - August 9, 2010
If I remember correctly, wasn’t the sentence mandatory? New York has some exceptionally tough gun laws.
Professional athletes can afford better legal representation. Money is the difference between the sentence you or I would get for being drunk and high and killing a pedestrian and the sentence Dante Stallworth got.
golanbatrac - August 9, 2010
Well, if money is a factor then anyone who has a lot of money — doctors and lawyers and businessmen — can get off easy, too. So it’s not about being a famous athlete. And I would argue that sometimes athletes and other famous people get harsher punishments because the judge or whoever wants to make an example of them and doesn’t want to be perceived as getting of easy. I think Burress was an example of this.
As far as the Stallowrth case, we’ve discussed this before so I don’t want to get in to that again, but the family of the victim wanted to get it over with and were okay with his sentence so that was a big reason for his light sentence. All situations are different, so you can’t just compare his case to someone else who killed a pedestrian while driving under the influence and assume that he got off easy just because he’s a pro athlete.
Buckeye Brad - August 9, 2010
You don’t think that his ability to pay millions to the family had anything to do with their desire to ‘just get it over with’?
golanbatrac - August 9, 2010
like BB said, it would be a factor for anyone who has a lot of money like doctors or lawyers.
bross09 - August 9, 2010
I didn’t say otherwise.
golanbatrac - August 9, 2010
I also think how he handled all of it, his extremely low level of intoxication (the officers at the scene didn’t even suspect he was drunk), and the fact that they couldn’t even prove the accident was his fault all went a long way towards that light sentence.
notthatnoise - August 9, 2010
Yes, these are all true.
Buckeye Brad - August 9, 2010
Also, didn’t the DA say something like it was about what anyone would have gotten all things considered?
rufio - August 9, 2010
I’m talking any form of star Brad. Movie, music, ect…not just sports.
They all have money, they all get off easy. Very few times do they actually go through what the average joe would. Just a sidenote as well, but a doctor makes six figures, probably low six figures for an average. A star makes millions a year. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE between those.
Kimble_79 - August 9, 2010
Yep, the more money you have, the more you can get away with.
golanbatrac - August 9, 2010
They don’t ALL get off easy.
Buckeye Brad - August 9, 2010
I agree, but I would think the ratio would be like 80/20 leaning more towards easy.
Kimble_79 - August 9, 2010
I think the only reason this perception exists is because you don’t hear about the “normal” people who got off easy. there are people out there who have caused permanent injuries and have had multiple DUI’s who still have a license.
notthatnoise - August 9, 2010
This is a very valid point.
Buckeye Brad - August 9, 2010
Possibly, good point
Kimble_79 - August 9, 2010
Plex had a LOADED GUN hidden in his sweatpants, and it went off in a crowded nightclub. I don’t consider that a small offense at all.
JulioBernazard - August 9, 2010
Considering the constitution allows it, I don’t. Sure, you need permits and such but the second amendment allows us to bear arms.
Nothing wrong with that personally.
SpecialBrownie - August 9, 2010
Better?
Bernie19Kosar - August 9, 2010
Thanks for the addition.
JulioBernazard - August 9, 2010
THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING
Roger Dorn - August 9, 2010
How about the fact that it was in the waistband of his sweatpants? It almost makes it funny, considering no one else got hurt.
rufio - August 10, 2010
Most people don’t get jail time for having an unlicensed gun.
Buckeye Brad - August 10, 2010
How about for having it go off in a crowded nightclub?
JulioBernazard - August 10, 2010
Look at the actual time served on these…average joe would not/will not ever get these breaks.
http://www.popcrunch.com/15-celebrity-criminals/
Kimble_79 - August 10, 2010
yes they would. you would just never hear about it.
notthatnoise - August 10, 2010
actually, most of those people didn’t even get off easy.
notthatnoise - August 10, 2010
exactly. McCanaghuey’s (sp), besdies the low fine, is actually what normal people get. he did get fined less, but posession of Marijuana is in most states, a minor misdemeanor that only carries with it a fine and no jail sentence (as long as its a relatively small amount).
I took a diversion program and talked to the guy about this subject. He teaches a DUI class and he has definitely seen normal people get off easy too. Multiple time DUI offenders not getting their license suspended and just getting a diversion program…just because your lawyer went to law school with the judge or something like that.
bross09 - August 10, 2010
Are you kidding me? That proves absolutely nothing. I’m sure that if you took the time to look at every sentence in every county in the country, you’d find hundreds of cases of regular people who got off easy for crimes. The only reason those are listed on a website is because they’re celebrities and people care about them. If it happened to you or I then nobody would ever notice.
You’re just making blatant generalizations which are completely false.
Buckeye Brad - August 10, 2010
there are TONS of people who get off easy. I did a report for my social issues english class in HS about this exact subject. It also focused on race disparities but thats a different issue…
however, there a TON of people, just in cleveland, who get off easy on crimes.
bross09 - August 10, 2010
Actually, for Lohan’s most recent sentence, they were all over the LA news saying how most people would only serve about 15% of their sentence too, and that Lohan was actually getting what a normal person would.
rufio - August 10, 2010
In New York they do. There’s a mandatory minimum sentence of 42 months for possession of an unlicensed firearm. New York doesn’t honor carry permits from other states (including New Jersey where Burress lived) and they certainly don’t honor expired carry permits from Florida (the only permit Burress had).
golanbatrac - August 10, 2010
Eh, I suppose. But still, I don’t see it as that big of an offense. NY is almost like Cali, where everything causes cancer.
SpecialBrownie - August 11, 2010
Michael Vick. Only SOB I ever knew that did hard time for dog fighting.
realmccoy - August 9, 2010
It was also conspiracy charges and I believe also something going across state lines.
bross09 - August 9, 2010
didn’t they threaten him with gambling charges too?
notthatnoise - August 9, 2010
yeah. I thought so, now that you mention it. I knew there was something else I forgot.
bross09 - August 10, 2010
How many SOBs who set up dog fighting rings do you know?
rufio - August 9, 2010
I wouldn’t consider dog fighting common, but it definitely happens a lot, and is entirely underground. If you were in the south you’d probably know someone who either did it or knew of a ring.
The Licensed Pessimist - August 9, 2010
Right, and what % of those guys that get caught are doing hard time because of the dog fighting and/or associated charges?
If celebrities or people with money get punished harder than normal people—and I am not saying they don’t—then other people who have been caught doing the same thing would have gotten off easier.
To say the only person you know of who got hard time for dog fighting was Vick is like saying the only person you know of who led police on a low-speed getaway in a white Bronco and was acquitted was OJ Simpson.
The logic just doesn’t add up to “Because Vick = only person I know who did hard time for dogfighting, therefore celebrities = get punished more than normal people”
rufio - August 9, 2010
Lived in the South for 15 years and never once knew of anyone dog fighting.
Bernie19Kosar - August 9, 2010
I love it when he gets proven wrong. Like all the time, haha.
SpecialBrownie - August 9, 2010
Well, one person’s statement doesn’t really “prove” anything.
Buckeye Brad - August 10, 2010
I’m still shocked that more people don’t realize how serious drinking and driving is. was lawson on the team for stallworth’s incident?
notthatnoise - August 9, 2010
Nice seeing you ride the pine, Gerard. Good luck elsewhere.
Andrew Tolliver - August 9, 2010
I understand this guy is fighting for a spot and he’s not filthy rich, but I’m sure he makes enough money to get a cab. And I’m sure he has at least one friend or associate that would’ve drove his dumb butt home. Just plain idiocy.
And I wonder if the coaching staff ever talk about this. As a military member, our supervisors constantly tell us that they would rather get a call from someone at 2 a:m asking for a ride vice one letting them know we’re in jail, or worse. I’m sure the NFL coaching staffs and players association are no different.
allovertheplace - August 9, 2010
there is actually an anonymous service for NFL players to get a ride home. And yes, I’m pretty sure this is discussed with each team prior to the season.
notthatnoise - August 9, 2010
Yeah but when you are drunk you don´t think like that. What they need is a button that can be pushed by a friend or bartender than sends you their GPS location and sends a car. Might start a business based on this concept.
realmccoy - August 9, 2010
What they need is some common sense.
golanbatrac - August 9, 2010
now you’re asking too much.
notthatnoise - August 9, 2010
That’s exactly what I used to like when I was overseas (in my younger days). The dollar went pretty far against the local currency so, while we weren’t rock star rich, we could easily afford taxis. I would think that even the undrafted rookies could afford a cab.
JustBob - August 9, 2010
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