If there was a contest for weirdest offseason, Lucky Whitehead is winning it and second place is not even in his rearview mirror. Fortunately, Whitehead's story ends pretty well as the receiver and special teams ace was cleared of shoplifting charges in Virginia that popped up Monday afternoon.
To recap what is a very bizarre story: Whitehead found out about these charges Monday, but had no idea where they came from or why he was being charged. It turns out that police thought they arrested Whitehead on June 22, but it was not him. When Whitehead failed to show up for a July 6 court date (that he did not know he had because, you see, he was never arrested), police came after him again.
So the Cowboys decided to cut Whitehead on Monday following a lot of questions about the Cowboys and the character of people they keep on their roster. Jerry Jones says they have a "high bar" for people in their locker room. OK, sure, whatever.
But here's where things get even stranger, somehow. The Cowboys, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, never actually filed the paperwork to cut Whitehead on Monday. Which means he isn't actually cut. But he could be!
He also isn't arrested. The Prince William County police said they arrested a different man June 22 and the man in question used Whitehead's Social Security number in order to provide police with a false identity.
The statement, expressing regret, from Prince William County Police Sergeant Jonathan L. Perok on the situation surrounding Lucky Whitehead pic.twitter.com/FJcRSGilSZ
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 25, 2017
So, in theory, this will play out with the Cowboys keeping Whitehead on their roster after an impressive show of faux justice. And Whitehead won't be arrested or charged, although there is a guy out there with his Social Security number he might want to put a lid on, because that guy could get him in trouble again if he's not careful.
Or maybe Whitehead will end up being cut after all. Which means the Cowboys will have cut an innocent man -- and one who was swearing his innocence at the time -- after there was a whiff of trouble on a day in which the quality of the players on the Cowboys roster was questioned. The Cowboys suggested that a number of different incidents with Whitehead were part of his release, but let's not ignore that the Cowboys have been aggressively supporting Ezekiel Elliott all offseason as well.
It is a fine line when it comes to personnel management, but any team acting like it will take the high road over judging the importance of a player in these matters is fooling itself.
Meanwhile, let's not ignore the fact that Whitehead's dog was kidnapped this offseason.
Might be time to change that first name, Lucky.