McNeal seventh Bengals player arrested in calendar year

Bengals wide receiver Reggie McNeal faces a Friday court date in Houston, following his weekend citation for resisting arrest.

McNeal, 23, was arrested outside a Houston nightclub at 2 a.m. Sunday. He struck an off-duty officer in the chest with his elbow after being told that the club had closed for the night.

The police report states that McNeal was told the club was closed but became verbally abusive and used profanity towards the officer. The officer backed up.

McNeal approached again. The officer smelled the odor of alcohol on McNeal’s breath. Then when the officer tried to place McNeal under arrest for public intoxication, McNeal elbowed him in the chest.

The two men fell to the ground.

Another officer working off-duty helped the first officer arrest McNeal, the report said. McNeal is 6-feet-2, 205 pounds.

He was taken to the Harris County Jail, where McNeal posted $1,000 bond.
Resisting arrest is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

Bengals players were off Friday-Sunday after playing their Week 13 game Thursday night at home against Baltimore.

The team is scheduled to practice this afternoon for one hour.

McNeal is the seventh Bengals players –on the roster at the time of the arrest – arrested this calendar year.

McNeal already was involved in one legal scrap earlier this season. Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman was driving McNeal’s vehicle when he was charged with DUI on the morning of Sept. 25 in the East End. Thurman told Cincinnati Police he was driving because Henry and McNeal were in worse condition to drive. Henry vomited out the window.

Bengals spokesman Jack Brennan said this morning that the club is following its policy of not commenting on McNeal’s arrest while the issue is in the legal system.
McNeal was the team’s sixth-round draft choice in April and made the conversion from college quarterback at Texas A&M to NFL wide receiver. He has no offensive statistics.