OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Willie Gay on Thursday afternoon pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of criminal property damage of less than $1,000 after he was arrested Wednesday night by police.
Gay, 23, was released from the detention center in Johnson County, Kansas on Thursday afternoon.
Gay’s agents, Maxx Lepsettler and Ryan Rubin, said in a statement that Gay was visiting his son when he got into an argument with the child’s mother, who called police.
A police report estimated the total property damage at $225 for a vacuum cleaner, cellphone screen protector, humidifier and damage to a wall and door frame.
The mother of Gay’s 3-month-old son has requested a civil protection order, which means Gay is not allowed to have contact with either of them until the case is heard by a civil judge.
The Class B non-person misdemeanor “constitutes a domestic violence offense,” according to court records. He is scheduled to return to court on March 2.
Gay was not at practice Thursday and those available to speak with reporters deferred all questions about his status for Sunday’s AFC divisional playoff game against the Buffalo Bills to coach Andy Reid, who does not speak to the media again until Friday.
“I’m going to leave that up to Andy. I’m sure he’ll address it,” Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said. “But if this happened in a game and it was an injury, we’d just operate that way. But we’ll see what happens.”
Gay, the Chiefs’ second-round draft pick in 2020, started 11 games this season plus the Chiefs’ wild-card round playoff win last weekend against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has two interceptions and 0.5 sacks.
Earlier this season, Gay spoke about his struggles with mental health, saying that he was “going through some things, man,” but that he wanted to be an example for other NFL players that keep such issues bottled up by being open and honest about them.
“All I can say about Willie is I love working with him,” Spagnuolo said. “He’s been terrific. I think you know he’s had a baby; I talk to him about that a lot. I just hope it works out best for everybody.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.