Jonathan Newsome Officially Released By Colts

Following last week’s marijuana possession arrest, Indianapolis Colts outside linebacker Jonathan Newsome has officially been released by the team:

The 2nd-year linebacker made a series of earlier tweets that made it look like his time with the Colts just ended Monday morning:

Originally a 5th round pick of the Colts in the 2014 NFL Draft, Newsome showed initial promise in his rookie season as he had a team high 6.5 sacks. However, the 2nd-year pass rusher struggled this past season in 14 games (2 starts), recording only 1 sack and became a healthy scratch at points in the season.

The young pass rusher had a previous marijuana related arrest at Ball State, when he was suspended 2 games for an incident in which a bag containing the drug was found in his wallet.

Perhaps most troubling about his latest arrest was that it wasn’t even the first time that the police were called to Newsome’s residence in recent days, as it was the second time in less than three weeks:

"“A Zionsville, Indiana, police spokesperson said Thursday that officers were called to Newsome’s home early in the morning on January 31 because of a complaint about loud music,” wrote ESPN’s Mike Wells last week. “Police, who had a search warrant, found marijuana in the residence. A friend of Newsome’s was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana that morning.Newsome and the same friend were in the residence again when police were called early Wednesday morning because of a similar noise complaint, the spokesman said. Newsome was taken into custody on two counts of possession of marijuana after he was observed with the drug.”"

Newsome is only 25 years old and young players make mistakes, but at a certain point, one has to wonder how many times he’s going to have to make the same mistake again until he learns that drugs and professional football don’t mix.

It’s a shame because he’s clearly a talented pass rusher, who just needs to keep his focus on the right things off-the-field.