Vikings' Everson Griffen receiving mental health evaluation after weekend incident
Minnesota Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen is reportedly being evaluated at a Minneapolis-area hospital after an incident last Saturday, via multiple reports, as more details emerge about what is clearly a troubled time for the veteran player.
‘Getting help for personal matters’
A league source told ESPN that Griffen is being evaluated after a Saturday incident in which police had to be called to the hotel where Griffen has been staying.
The source reiterated that Griffen is “getting assistance on personal matters” and that the NFL is “comfortable he has a good support system around him.”
NFL Network reported that concerns for Griffen’s mental health predate Saturday’s incident, which is backed up by the police report: Kim Klawiter, the Vikings’ director of security, told police that Griffen hadn’t been acting normally lately and it was like he was having a nervous breakdown.
His behavior was so alarming and disruptive that the Vikings’ player development director Leslie Pico told police that the team sent Griffen and his agent a letter last Thursday, saying he was not allowed back to the team facility until he had undergone a mental health evaluation. Because he hadn’t threatened to harm himself or others at that point, Griffen couldn’t be forcibly brought to a mental health facility.
Threatening to shoot others inside hotel
According to the police report, Minneapolis Police Department responded to an incident at Hotel Ivy in the city on Saturday afternoon because of someone who was verbally threatening to shoot hotel staff members if he wasn’t let into his room.
Although the name of the person was redacted in the police report, multiple reports have confirmed that the individual was Griffen.
The incident report further says that hotel staff believed Griffen was possibly under the influence of alcohol or narcotics and that Griffen had checked into the hotel last week; staff said he caused a disturbance “each time he walks through the lobby.”
Griffen, 30, was not arrested and police are not investigating the incident, with a Minneapolis Police spokesman telling the Associated Press that there was no indication that the threats Griffen made were credible, and that he did not have a weapon.
Griffen did not play in the Vikings’ game against Buffalo on Sunday, and was not at practice on Monday.
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