Former NFL player Gosder Cherilus broke his silence Monday after he was arrested for disorderly conduct aboard a Delta flight in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Cherilus, 40, allegedly urinated on another passenger and was arrested at Logan Airport after his outrageous behavior forced the flight destined for Dublin, Ireland to be rerouted to Boston, Massachusetts State Police told DailyMail.com.
The former first-round pick, who was arraigned in East Boston Municipal Court Monday, issued a short statement apologizing for his actions.
Cherilus, who played for the Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout his NFL career, claimed his behavior was caused by a sleeping medication he had taken in preparation of the overnight flight.
‘I’d like to address the media reports about me that surfaced today regarding a situation that occurred onboard a flight to Ireland this past weekend,’ Cherilus wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
‘The flight was unexpectedly delayed for approximately four hours, and it did not take off until after 12:30 AM. In preparation for the unexpected overnight flight, I took a sleeping medication that I don’t normally use, which resulted in behavior that is not representative of my character, and I would like to apologize to the passengers and flight crew.’
The Delta aircrew requested State Police assistance for the flight at 2am ET Sunday and elect to divert and return to Boston following the former offensive tackle’s outrageous behavior.
After the Delta plane touched back down at Logan Airport, State Police troopers boarded the aircraft and told Cherilus to disembark.
However, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneer was uncooperative and initially refused, forcing troopers to escort him off the plane and arrest him.
‘Upon arrival at Terminal E, State Police Troop F and Customs and Boarder Patrol (CBP) personnel boarded the aircraft and identified the suspect as Gosder Cherilus, 40, of Wakefield,’ State Police told DailyMail.com in a statement.
‘Troopers verbally commanded Cherilus to leave the plane, but he became irate and uncooperative. Eventually, Troopers escorted Cherilus to the jet bridge and placed him under arrest for Disorderly Conduct and Disturbing a Flight Crew.’
The other passengers aboard the canceled flight were rebooked onto a new flight on Sunday night, which landed in the Irish capital at around 7:30am Monday morning, Delta confirmed to DailyMail.com.
‘Delta flight 154 from Boston to Dublin on August 17 returned to Boston Logan due to an unruly customer and was met by law enforcement,’ a Delta spokesperson said.
‘Delta has zero tolerance for unlawful behavior and will cooperate with law enforcement to that end. We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travel.’
The former offensive tackle was drafted by the Detroit Lions with the 17th overall pick in the 2008 NFL draft after playing collegiate football at Boston College.
Cherilus went on to start 116 of 132 games for the Lions, Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout his NFL career before retiring following the 2016 season.
The former NFLer is believed to have earned over $40million throughout his career on the field, last signing a two-year $7million contract with Tampa Bay in 2015.
Since hanging up his cleats, Cherilus has pursued a career in real estate, founding his own company, Bastion Companies.
