It has been a roller coaster few weeks for former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver, Lucky Whitehead.
Last week, Whitehead took to social media to ask for help finding his puppy that had been stolen and was being held for ransom money. After the dog was spotted in a video posted on twitter by a local rapper, Whitehead and his dog, Blitz, were finally reunited.
Then, a report surfaced that Whitehead was charged with larceny for shoplifting in Virginia and failing to appear for a court hearing. Shortly thereafter, the Cowboys released him.
However, the police department today announced that the man who was arrested provided false information, and that Whitehead was misidentified.
Per ESPN,
The Prince William County Police Department said the man who was arrested didn't have identification with him. He verbally provided the name, date of birth and Social Security number of Rodney Darnell Whitehead Jr. to police officers, who checked the information through the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles database.
Police also compared the DMV photo on file with the man in custody and "acted in good faith that, at the time, the man in custody was the same man matching the information provided."
"At this point, the police department is also confident in confirming that Mr. Whitehead's identify was falsely provided to police during the investigation," according to the statement.
Despite the fact that Whitehead is innocent, ESPN's Josina Anderson says the Cowboys have no plans of bringing him back.
Whitehead's agent, David Rich, doesn't think the 25-year old wide receiver will be out of work for long.
Per ESPN,
"It's disappointing but it's a tough life lesson for the young man," Rich told Archer on Tuesday. "He'll be fine. I've had three or four teams reach out to me already and I wouldn't be surprised if he was picked up, especially with the way rosters are right now. You can add a receiver from Long Beach State Community College or add a guy like Lucky Whitehead, who has a pretty good body of work."
"Right now he just wants to play football," Rich said. "He had a challenge ahead of him and he was ready for the challenge. He was tweeting 20 minutes before the first practice how excited he was. It's been a tough 24 hours. I think it will make him stronger."
