When initial characterizations of the recent arrest of Eagles linebacker Nolan Smith Jr. for speeding and reckless driving began to spread on social media, multiple accounts pegged his alleged speed at 137 miles per hour. Which seemed too high.
As it turns out, it was.
Via Tim McManus of ESPN, the Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that Smith was allegedly driving 135 miles per hour.
Smith was driving in an area with a 70 mph speed limit.
The 2023 first-round pick posted bond shortly after the arrest. A court date has not yet been set.
It’s a ridiculously high rate of speed. It’s almost cartoonish. And even though there was no accident, it’s another example of a situation in which an NFL player has driven at the kind of speed that could easily get himself or someone else killed.
The league has yet to take the problem as seriously as it deals with off-field misconduct. And it probably won’t happen until one of these incidents results in the death of another person.
Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice was suspended six games for a street racing incident that resulted in multiple injuries. If no one had been injured, Rice surely would have ended up with a lighter punishment.
But the outcome isn’t the problem; it’s the behavior. Every time a player drives that fast, he’s playing Russian roulette with a two-ton bullet.
If the league is going to impose standards on a player’s actions away from work, this is an area that cries out for something more aggressive. Because it will send the kind of message that the players currently aren’t receiving.
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