Dallas Cowboys Nose Tackle Josh Price-Brent Faces Manslaughter Charge in Teammate's Death; Mourns 'Horrific' Loss
By: Alyssa Newcomb
Updated: December 9, 2012
Dallas Cowboys players Joshua Price-Brent and Jerry Brown Jr., had a brotherly bond that began when they were teammates at the University of Illinois and carried on when they were both signed, in different years, to the NFL franchise.
But in an instant, the lives of the young, successful men who were living out their NFL dreams were altered.
Irving police suspect Price-Brent, 24, was intoxicated when he was behind the wheel of his 2007 Mercedes early Saturday morning. He was allegedly speeding when his car hit a curb, flipped, landed in the middle of a service road and caught fire, killing his passenger, Brown, 25, who had been a linebacker on the Cowboys practice squad.
Price-Brent, who is scheduled to be arraigned today on an intoxication manslaughter charge, released a statement Saturday night from his jail cell.
"I will live with this horrific and tragic loss every day for the rest of my life," he wrote.
His attorney, George Milner, called Brown's death a "tremendous loss" and said "this was like losing a little brother" for his client.
Authorities were alerted to the accident, which occurred at about 2:21 a.m., by several 911 callers, Irving Police Department spokesman John Argumaniz said. When police arrived, they found Price-Brent pulling Brown from his 2007 Mercedes, which had caught fire, he said.
Brown was unresponsive and was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
It was not known where the men were coming from or where they were going, but Argumaniz said officers suspected alcohol may have been a factor in the crash and asked Price-Brent to perform field sobriety tests.
"Based on the results of the tests, along with the officer's observations and conversations with Price-Brent, he was arrested for driving while intoxicated," Argumaniz said.
This is the second week in a row an NFL player has been accused of being involved in another person's death. Jovan Belcher of the Kansas City Chiefs killed his girlfriend early Dec. 1, then committed suicide while talking to team officials in the parking lot at Arrowhead Stadium.
Price-Brent was taken to a hospital for a mandatory blood draw where he was treated for minor scrapes, Argumaniz said. He was then booked on an intoxication manslaughter charge after it was learned Brown had died of injuries suffered in the crash.
It is expected that results from the blood draw could take several weeks, the police spokesman said.
If convicted, the second-degree felony intoxication manslaughter charge carries a sentence of two to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Milner suggested that ongoing construction in the area of the crash may have played a role.
"Anyone that's from here knows how much construction is going on out in that area of 114 -- that's hazardous, it's not well-lit at night, it's very difficult to see sometimes," he said. "I've done it sometimes going through there, you don't see these things, and it's changing , it's not as if you know it on Thursday night, and it's the same thing on Friday night, because it seems to change on an almost daily basis. That may have contributed to this."Price-Brent, a 6-foot-2, 320-pound nose tackle, left the University of Illinois as a junior for a career in the NFL. He was picked up by the Cowboys during the 2010 NFL supplemental draft and has played three seasons with the team.
The Cowboys are set to take on the Cincinnati Bengals in Ohio today.
"We are deeply saddened by the news of this accident and the passing of Jerry Brown," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in a statement. "At this time, our hearts and prayers and the deepest sympathies are with the members of Jerry's family and all of those who knew him and loved him."
