ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Denver Broncos running back Melvin Gordon‘s DUI charges were dismissed Wednesday morning in Denver County Court as Gordon pleaded guilty to lesser charges of excessive speeding and reckless driving.
Gordon had a jury trial scheduled for April 8 if the case had not been settled before then. The 27-year-old was arrested Oct. 13 in downtown Denver and charged with DUI; he also was cited for speeding — between 25 and 39 mph over the legal limit.
He did not take a Breathalyzer test at the scene.
The Denver District Attorney’s office dismissed the DUI charges after Gordon’s legal team raised evidentiary concerns. Gordon, who had pleaded not guilty to the DUI charge in January, had a previous hearing rescheduled to Wednesday after his attorneys cited new information.
Gordon will likely avoid league discipline as well. The NFL has previously suspended players who had been charged with reckless driving, including former New York Giants kicker Aldrick Rosas last season, but in that incident Rojas had also been charged with leaving the scene of an accident and driving without a valid license.
In 2018, then-New York Jets wide receiver Robby Anderson was not suspended by the NFL after he had pleaded no contest to a reckless driving charge.
Gordon signed a two-year, $16 million deal with the Broncos last offseason. He led the Broncos in carries (215), rushing yards (986) and rushing touchdowns (nine) this past season.
Wednesday’s dismissal also had potential financial impact for Gordon beyond lost salary due to a league suspension. If Gordon had been suspended, Broncos general manager George Paton could have moved to void $6.5 million worth of guaranteed money for 2021 in Gordon’s deal because of the arrest.
As the season drew to a close, Gordon said: “As far as the contract and all that stuff, I let my agent handle all that — the void and all that stuff. Hopefully I did enough for them to want to keep me here. … So, we’ll see; hopefully it works out, and hopefully they like me enough to kind of put all that stuff to the side. I guess in a couple months or so we’ll see what’s up.”
Two weeks after his arrest, Gordon had said: “I am sorry I was even in the situation … Obviously I try to do my best to walk a straight line and lead by example, things like that. I’m a little upset I even put myself in that situation.”