The fantastical world of Freddie Mitchell has been uneventful recently, but he made news for all the wrong reasons after Lakeland, Fla. police accused him of having pot delivered to his Brothers Bar-B-Q restaurant.
The former "People's Champ" was briefly handcuffed last Thursday, but adamantly denies he had anything to do with the 7-pound box of weed delivered to the restaurant he co-owns. Mitchell claims it's all a big misunderstanding and that the super-aggressive cops are going after the wrong guy. Fred Ex's lawyer, John Liguori, has another theory:
"This was a case of celebrity hunting. They got all excited, and they jumped the gun."
Clearly.
Police tracked the package (delivered via FedEx, no less) after it arrived at Mitchell's 90-year-old grandmother's home and then was shipped off to Brothers Bar-B-Q. When Mitchell came outside to sign for the package, the fuzz pounced.
If there was any doubt that this story was written by Mitchell's hometown newspaper, look no further than the final couple paragraphs:
"First Down Freddie Mitchell" had a variety of nicknames when he played football, including FredEX. He was a star wide receiver for Kathleen High. At UCLA, he caught passes and dated starlets.
In Philadelphia, despite some good years, he lost his job for what he described on MySpace.com as "running my mouth."
Mitchell said he was reluctant to say anything bad about the LPD because the police "are doing a great job in the community."
The investigation is still ongoing at this point and Mitchell is not under arrest.
Ex-NFL Standout Under Scrutiny [The Ledger]