DL Alonzo Spellman (official thread)

[starBUCKS]

Just a sad case of a mental health problem.

[Buckskin86]

Former NFL player pleads innocent
By: DANIELLE CAMILLI
Burlington County Times

MOUNT HOLLY - Former NFL lineman Alonzo Spellman pleaded innocent Monday to charges stemming from a fight outside a Burlington Township bar last September and will be back in court Wednesday.

Spellman, a Mount Holly native and 1989 graduate of Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly, threatened another man with a knife outside the Sunset Tavern on Sunset Road, police said.

No injuries were reported, but Spellman was indicted on charges of terroristic threats and weapons offenses. Spellman has been offered probation in exchange for a guilty plea, authorities said.

Spellman, of Willingboro, is in the Burlington County Jail unable to make $50,000 bail. He also has a warrant against him from Tulsa, Okla., his court-appointed attorney said.

In January 2008, he was arrested in Tulsa after he led officers on a 20-minute chase preceded by an altercation at a convenience store, police said.

The 36-year-old played for Rancocas Valley and Ohio State before being drafted into the NFL by the Chicago Bears in 1992.

He was released in 1998 after a series of bizarre incidents in which he refused to leave his publicist's house for eight hours and was found walking barefoot in frigid Chicago wearing only a thin, white hospital gown.

Those incidents resulted in Spellman undergoing treatment for bipolar disorder.

Spellman also spent about a year in federal custody after pleading guilty in 2002 to interfering with a flight crew when he forced a plane to make an emergency landing at Philadelphia International Airport due to unruly behavior.

PhillyBurbs.com: ?Former NFL player pleads innocent

[brodybuck21]

So very sad....

[Buckskin86]

Alonzo Spellman

As a Buckeye: Three-year letter-winner (1989 to '91)

As a pro: A first-round draft choice of the Chicago Bears in 1992, Spellman played 123 games in nine seasons with Chicago, Dallas and Detroit. He totaled 247 tackles and 43 sacks.

The skinny: Though Spellman's performance suffered after a shoulder injury in 1997, his bigger problems were with bipolar disorder, a diagnosis that became public in 1998. He was arrested for disrupting an airline flight in 2002 and spent 18 months in federal prison.

GameDay+

[cincibuck]

This brings to mind the recent surge in research into football, brain injuries and mental health consequences:

Q. and A.: The Times’s Alan Schwarz on Head Injuries in Football - The Fifth Down Blog - NYTimes.com

While Spellman's problems could stem from other causes, it fits other cases involving former players, too many to be written off as mere coincidence.

[FrancisSawyer]

Man, every time this thread gets bumped I expect the worst. I hope he's getting some kind of medical treatment for his disorder.

['BusNative]

Originally Posted by FrancisSawyer

Man, every time this thread gets bumped I expect the worst.

I was literally just thinking the same thing

I've known people to successfully handle their bipolarity by sticking to their meds, but the same chemical imbalance also tells them they don't need meds. It's a tough thing to deal with...