Former Minnesota Viking Everson Griffen was charged Monday with drunken driving and reckless driving in connection with a traffic stop over the weekend in Chanhassen.
Griffen, who played for the Vikings from 2010-19 and again in 2021, was stopped late Saturday morning by a Carver County sheriff's deputy after he was reported to be driving in a manner that "caused a person or vehicle to dodge" his car, the misdemeanor citation read. No further details were disclosed.
The 35-year-old former All-Pro defensive lineman was charged with fourth-degree drunken driving and reckless driving in his 1968 Pontiac LeMans.
His blood alcohol content was .09%, above the legal limit for driving in Minnesota, according to a preliminary breath test.
Griffen was arrested near Powers Boulevard and Utica Lane, and jailed for about an hour before his release, according to jail records.
A call to his phone Monday afternoon was answered by a family member who declined to make him available for questions.
In December 2021, following multiple troubling incidents, Griffen announced on social media that he has been living with bipolar disorder.
Griffen called 911 shortly after 3 a.m. from his Minnetrista home on Nov. 24, 2021, saying someone was with him, and that he needed help from law enforcement. He also told the dispatcher that he fired one round but no one was wounded, police said. They added no intruder was found.
The same day, Griffen had posted, then deleted, a video on Instagram saying people were trying to kill him as he held a gun in his hand. He was alone inside the house, with police outside, until he emerged and agreed to be taken for treatment. Vikings mental health professionals assisted for several hours.
Griffen also spent four weeks undergoing mental health treatment in 2018 after two incidents that September — one at the Hotel Ivy in downtown Minneapolis, the other at his home in Minnetrista — prompted police involvement. He later revealed he lived in a sober house for the remainder of the 2018 season.
The fourth-round draft choice out of USC returned to play 17 of the Vikings' 18 regular-season and postseason games in 2019. He spent 2020 with Dallas and Detroit before the Vikings brought him back for the 2021 season in a one-year deal.
