LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Heisman Trophy runner-up Darren McFadden was handcuffed by police and then released without charges after being involved in a “pretty rowdy scene” at a piano bar early Thursday.
Arkansas’ All-America running back and at least four others were at the downtown bar, called Ernie Biggs, when a disturbance broke out shortly after midnight, police Lt. Terry Hastings said. A bouncer was hit in the face as he was trying to get the group to leave, Hastings said. A police report did not specify who hit the bouncer.
“There was a whole bunch of people there,” Hastings said. “They were inside and it spilled out into the street.”
Outside, McFadden was handcuffed by a police officer “because he was agitated and was provoking aggressive behavior inciting the incident,” according to the police report.
“We handcuffed him for a few minutes because he was rowdy,” Hastings said.
McFadden, who was the only person handcuffed, was released after he calmed down. Hastings said it was routine procedure to handcuff a person to gain control of a situation.
Thursday evening before an appearance at the Little Rock Touchdown Club, where he was to be honored with an award, McFadden declined comment, through a university spokesman.
McFadden’s mother, Mini Muhammad, said her son was trying to protect his younger brother, Daryl.
“He wasn’t the one that was fighting. It was his little brother — someone had jumped on him,” Muhammad said. “He was agitated because his brother had a bloody nose.
“Darren was not fighting — please make that be known,” she added.
Notes
DRAFT: Rashard Mendenhall is leaving Illinois to enter the NFL draft, adding another top prospect to a deep class of running backs.
Wide receivers Malcolm Kelly (Oklahoma) and Earl Bennett (Vanderbilt) were among the other players who announced Thursday they will pass up their remaining eligibility to enter the April draft. Clemson defensive end Phillip Merling is turning pro as well.
West Virginia wideout Darius Reynaud also will enter the draft.
Mendenhall, perhaps the biggest star so far to bolt early from college, will skip his senior year at Illinois after rushing for a school-record 1,681 yards while leading the Illini to the Rose Bowl this season.
He thinks he’ll be drafted in the first round after getting feedback from the NFL, and some draft analysts expect him to be selected that high.
PURDUE: The Boilermakers might announce the successor to football coach Joe Tiller as soon as today. The 65-year-old Tiller will coach the Boilermakers in 2008, and the successor would take over after that. The date and time of the announcement are uncertain because the details are still being worked out. Several media outlets have reported Eastern Kentucky coach Danny Hope will be hired as assistant head coach, then become head coach in 2009. The 49-year-old Hope was an offensive line coach on Tiller’s staffs at Wyoming, then Purdue, before leaving the Boilermakers after the 2001 season.
OUTLAND TROPHY: After capping his college career with a national title, LSU tackle Glenn Dorsey accepted the Outland Trophy as the nation’s best interior lineman.
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