Michael Floyd tests positive for alcohol during house arrest
New Vikings receiver Michael Floyd has tested positive for alcohol during his house arrest.
Mini-camp just concluded for the Minnesota Vikings, but that doesn’t mean the team isn’t in the news. TMZ broke the story on Friday morning that Michael Floyd has tested positive for alcohol during his house arrest.
Floyd was given house arrest as part of his DUI in December and was not supposed to have a single drop of alcohol during that sentence.
"A rep for the Scottsdale City Court confirms … Floyd’s alcohol monitoring system flagged 5 events during June 11th and 12th. At least three of the events were described to us as “high alcohol tests.”"
Floyd is blaming a tea called Kombucha on the failed tests. Kombucha has very low amounts of alcohol, less than non-alcoholic beer, typically.
Floyd was at a charity even held at Target Field by Minnesota Twins first baseman Joe Mauer and was asked about the issue by the Pioneer Press’ Brian Murphy. Floyd in the moment said the report was ‘totally false’.
The Vikings organization issued a statement that was virtually a non-statement.
Floyd did release a statement to the media later in the day. Here that is from 1500 ESPN:
"“Michael Floyd started his 96-day home monitoring on March 13, 2017. During this time period, Michael was tested a minimum of six times per day. For the first 90 days, Michael’s blood alcohol content was 0.0 for all of his 500 plus tests.On June 10, 2017, Michael watched movies at his place of residence until 3:00 a.m. During that time, he drank several bottles of kombucha tea drinks, unaware that the drinks contain alcohol.On June 11, 2017 at 5:30 a.m., Michael was tested and his blood alcohol content was .055. Michael was tested again at 5:54 a.m. and his blood alcohol content was down to .045. Michael was tested again at 6:23 a.m. and his blood alcohol content was .044. He then went back to sleep and missed a test at 6:33 a.m.More from Sporting SotaMinnesota Twins bullpen will be their downfallTop 5 Minnesota Twins Pitching ProspectsKyle Rudolph signing gives stability to Minnesota Vikings offenseJake Odorizzi’s emergence fueling Twins starting staffFormer Minnesota Twins player David Ortiz shotMichael was five days away from the end of his home monitoring. Prior to and after this incident, Michael has not had any alcohol whatsoever since the start of his home monitoring. Unfortunately, the kombucha teas that Michael did drink resulted in a positive blood alcohol content reading. As a result, the Court wishes to hear from Michael on June 26. At that time, Michael will have an opportunity to explain how this unfortunate test result happened.”"
If Floyd is found to have consumed alcohol, it could result in jail time. Floyd’s house arrest was due to expire today, but will now continue through his court date of June 26.
On the field, this might result in trouble for Floyd. The Vikings signed Floyd to a very incentive-laden deal, so it would not hurt the Vikings to release the receiver. That option for Minnesota might be even more compelling with the likes of Eric Decker being on the free agent market right now.
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