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It's that time of year when every team hopes and prays that the phone does not ring. When it comes to the NFL offseason, no news is good news, and teams like the Kansas City Chiefs hope that there's no reason for a player's agent or lawyer to call with a public relations crisis. For the Denver Broncos, the Chiefs main rival in the AFC West this season, they were unfortunately on the end of such news this weekend with the arrest of Elvis Dumervil.
The charge according to early reports was aggravated assault with a firearm for his arrest in Miami, Florida. It's the sort of antics that no team wants to deal with, especially considering that Dumervil is one half of the incredible pass rushing tandem that helped Denver vault to the top of the AFC West in 2011 in John Fox's first year as head coach. As more details come out, it's clear that something of significance happen that forces the Broncos to absorb the drama as it unfolds.
Police report indicates he lifted up shirt to show gun. RT @NFL_ATL: Dumervil alleged to display firearm during traffic dispute.
— gregg rosenthal (@greggrosenthal) July 16, 2012
Dumervil racked up 9.5 sacks last season for the Broncos and that was coming off of a season-ending injury in 2010 where he wasn't even up to full health. This next 2012 season was expected to bring Dumervil back to full speed and effectiveness where the Broncos would be difficult to deal with despite the thin linebacker position the team is now dealing with. This makes things even more of a stretch.
The Broncos will release statements and deal with things as the reality of the situation unfolds. Perhaps Roger Goodell will get involved, but all of that is unfounded at this point. At this time, the only thing that's clear is that the Broncos have a situation on their hands -- the very thing that front offices pray they won't have in the weeks between OTAs and training camp.