ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- After a difficult rookie season, Denver Broncos wide receiver Carlos Henderson may be poised for punishment from both the team and the NFL after an arrest Sunday in Louisiana.
Henderson, who spent his rookie season on injured reserve with a thumb injury he suffered in a preseason game against the Chicago Bears, was arrested Sunday in West Monroe, Louisiana, and charged with first offense possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor, according to police records.
According to the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s office, Henderson was a passenger in a GMC Yukon that had been stopped for speeding on Interstate 20. According to records, the SUV smelled of marijuana. Henderson and the driver, listed as Alejandra Aviles-Jimenez, said they did not possess any marijuana.
Police searched the SUV and, according to records, “multiple" pieces of marijuana were found where Henderson had been seated. Police also noted a water bottle that had “loose marijuana" floating in the liquid as if it had been used to extinguish a “marijuana cigar." The police report also referred to a “thick green residue" on Henderson’s tongue and that Henderson admitted to smoking marijuana earlier in the day, but not inside the SUV.
The Broncos issued a statement that “we are aware of the issue involving Carlos Henderson and are gathering more information."
Recreational marijuana is legal in Colorado, where Henderson spent most of the past year, but it is a banned substance in the NFL. Players are routinely subject to testing beginning in April, after the start of the new league year.
Henderson, who played at Louisiana Tech in Monroe, was a third-round pick in last April’s draft. After an inconsistent offseason and training camp getting acclimated to the Broncos' offense, Henderson was injured in the team’s first preseason game.
He underwent surgery and was placed on injured reserve and did not play a snap as a rookie.
