In the months leading up to Super Bowl XLII, Carencro’s Kevin Faulk could do no wrong. LSU alum and local hero Faulk, who already has three Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots and was a team captain for the Pats’ historic 2007-2008 season that ultimately fell short, was always cited as the ultimate team player, and even credited as a positive influence in the turnaround of perennial NFL bad-boy Randy Moss. Here at home, Faulk’s equally appreciated for his charitable work with the United Way of Acadiana .
Faulk’s image took a big hit yesterday when KATC reported that he was busted for pot possession at last Friday night’s Lil’ Wayne concert at the Cajundome. The news spread quickly, and today Faulk has the dubious distinction of being in sports pages around the country and on the front page of sportsillustrated.com and espn.com for the wrong reasons. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Faulk’s also been enshrined in profootballtalk.com ’s “Turd Watch,” which tracks the too-frequent arrests of NFL players.
The big question is how Faulk handles the incident from here. He hasn’t made any public statement yet, but odds are he’ll issue the standard apology for the embarrassment he caused his team, fans and supporters. As for the legal repercussions, Faulk was issued a misdemeanor summons for possession of marijuana and will have to appear in court at a later date. With four blunts found in his possession, it’s highly doubtful he’ll be able to use the “it-wasn’t-my-pot-and-I-don’t-know-how-it-got-there” defense.
Let’s be frank: In addition to poor judgment, Faulk’s Cajundome bust also shows an incredible lack of common sense. Anyone who even remotely follows popular music knows that Lil’ Wayne is the biggest superstar in hip-hop today — and also knows that Lil’ Wayne’s well-known love of pot makes his tour bus and concerts a frequent target for DEA agents and policemen . So it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that taking four joints to a Lil’ Wayne concert is asking for trouble.