sad news. cleveland browns key player was arrested by the police just now because…..

Cleveland Browns defensive lineman Malik McDowell was arrested Monday after an incident in South Florida in which police said he launched a “violent attack” on a sheriff’s deputy while wearing no clothes.

McDowell, 25, was charged with aggravated battery on an officer, resisting an officer/obstructing with violence and exposure of sex organs in public. He was booked at the Broward County Main Jail, with county records indicating Tuesday that he was being held pending a $31,000 bond.

Responding to a report of a naked man walking near a learning center for children in Deerfield Beach, Fla., a Broward County deputy found McDowell sitting on a curb, according to an arrest report. McDowell then uttered what sounded like profanity to the deputy and was said to have charged at the officer “at full speed with a closed fist.”

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McDowell landed punches on the deputy’s eye and elsewhere around the head, per the report, as they exchanged blows before the player ran away on foot. After a short pursuit, McDowell was arrested and tased to get him into handcuffs. Video obtained by TMZ Sports showed an apparently naked McDowell handcuffed around his wrists and ankles while surrounded at a curb by deputies and other emergency personnel. The 6-foot-6, 295-pound lineman was then placed on a stretcher, with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reporting that he was taken to a hospital for treatment and evaluation before getting booked at the jail.

The deputy claimed that as a result of McDowell’s alleged attack, there was a “substantial likelihood that I sustained permanent injury to my eye.”

“We are aware of the very concerning incident and arrest involving Malik McDowell and are in the process of gathering more information,” the Browns said Tuesday in a statement. “We understand the severity of this matter and our thoughts are for the well-being of all involved. We will have no further comment at this time.”

Adam Swickle, a defense attorney for McDowell, told the Sun-Sentinel, “Apparently, somebody may have slipped him something or given him something he was unaware of — which explains some of his bizarre behavior.”

McDowell was a 2017 second-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks out of Michigan State, where he earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2016. McDowell played in his first NFL games this season after injuries and off-field issues derailed his career. Just before what would have been his first training camp with the Seahawks, he was injured in an ATV accident and missed his rookie season after being placed on the non-football injury list. Starting in September 2017, McDowell was arrested four times within two years, three times for incidents allegedly involving alcohol. After he was arrested in Michigan on a felony possession of stolen property charge, he was sentenced in November 2019 to 11 months in jail and three years of probation.

By then, he had been waived by Seattle, where he also spent the 2018 season sidelined with an injury designation. The Seahawks sued McDowell in May 2019 for allegedly failing to repay them nearly $800,000 in signing bonus money forfeited as a result of the ATV accident.

“He’s not the same person since the accident of that 4-wheeler,” Reggie Wynns, the owner of a Michigan athletic development camp who helped McDowell with the college recruiting process, told the Detroit Free Press in 2019. “It could be CTE issues, it could be concussion. We don’t know. He was not a troublemaker, not a troublemaker at all.”

When the Browns signed him in May, General Manager Andrew Berry said (via cleveland.com), “We are certainly aware of Malik’s past, as we have done extensive work on him for the last two months. He is accountable for his actions and has had to live with the consequences for decisions earlier in his life. We believe Malik is in a good place, personally and medically. He has taken the necessary steps to get on a healthy path, and has learned from his experiences.”

Over 15 games for the Browns this season, including 14 starts, McDowell notched 30 tackles (16 solo), and three sacks.