Jason Garrett Told Lucky Whitehead 'I Do Not Believe' Mistaken Identity Story

Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Lucky Whitehead was wrongly accused of shoplifting in June after a case of a mistaken identity.

But when he tried to tell his head coach, Jason Garrett, that he didn't commit the crime, Garrett reportedly didn't believe him, per PFT Live:

The Cowboys released Whitehead on Monday.

Executive vice president Stephen Jones said the decision followed "a culmination of things over a period of time," per the team's website.

"I just think we've given Lucky a lot of different chances along the way going back to last year," he said. "I think we just decided it was time to go in a different direction."

Team owner Jerry Jones also passionately defended the move: 

Whitehead, however, was shocked by the team's decision.

"Let's not sugarcoat anything," he told Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. "I was pretty much being called a liar."

Whitehead added:

"As far as the whole situation went down, I was blindsided. I didn't know about a warrant that came about in the first place. Clearly because I wasn't the person arrested. The head person [in the Cowboys organization] I told, no one backed me up. No one had my back in the whole situation. I knew about it at what? 12:45. By 2:30 I'm released."

Whitehead said his teammates believed him when he told them he wasn't involved in the shoplifting incident.

The Prince William County Police Department in Virginia cleared Whitehead on Tuesday, per ESPN.com, saying that the man they arrested in the June 22 shoplifting incident didn't have identification with him but "verbally provided the name, date of birth and Social Security number of Rodney Darnell Whitehead Jr."

The department then compared Whitehead's DMV photo with the man they had in custody and "acted in good faith that, at the time, the man in custody was the same man matching the information provided."

His agent, David Rich, told ESPN's Todd Archer he will consult with Whitehead and his family about what actions to take going forward, either legally or with the NFL Players Association.