NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers WR Hines Ward Arrested on DUI: UPDATE

Pittsburgh Steelers WR Hines Ward was arrested early Saturday morning and charged with driving under the influence.

Ward was taken to the DeKalb County jail in Georgia at 3:41 a.m. and was released on $1,300 bond. Details were not immediately available as to the arrest. 

This is not the first time Ward has had driving issues.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Ward was charged with speeding and reckless driving in April 2006.  He pleaded guilty to the speeding charges, paid a $1,350 fine and the reckless driving charges were dropped.

No one knows at this point if there will be any ramifications for Ward with the NFL. According to the NFL, regardless of the lockout, players who run afoul of the law will be punished. 

That cannot happen until the new CBA is worked out though.

UPDATE:

Hines Ward released a statement through his manager, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

“On July 9th Hines Ward was stopped by Dekalb Co. police for suspicion of misdemeanor driving under the influence. He cooperated fully with the police and truthfully answered all of their questions,” the statement reads.  ”We are currently in the process of ascertaining all the facts.

“From our preliminary investigation we can tell you that we are confident that the facts will show that Hines was NOT impaired by alcohol while driving. However, Hines is deeply saddened by this incident and apologizes to his fans and the Steelers organization for this distraction.”