Shaun Ellis was arrested on Saturday morning in Hanover, New Jersey, for possession of marijuana.
Capt. Shawn Waldron said in a statement that Ellis — listed as Mashaunda Ellis of Williamston, S.C. — was “uncooperative” and refused to give all of the paperwork requested by Sgt. Anthony Vitanza, who made the stop.
Ellis, 31, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound starting defensive end, issued an apology Thursday through Jets spokesman Bruce Speight.
“I apologize to my family, the fans and the organization,” Ellis said in a prepared statement. “As a captain, I set a poor example for my teammates as well as all NFL players. Although this is a pending legal matter, I understand that I have to be responsible for my actions.”
A professional athlete getting caught with pot is absolutely stunning. However, in all seriousness, this is disappointing to see. Ellis is a veteran, a team leader, and a role model. It is very disappointing to see such poor judgment. He is not some rookie a year out of college. This is a really unnecessary distraction.
It is good to see him take accountability for his actions and apologize for this lapse. Sometimes people can take lessons learned from situations like this and turn it into a positive. Shaun has been nothing but a high character guy with the Jets up to this point. It seems unlikely he will make the same mistake again.
It originally seemed odd that it would take this long for such a story to make the news, but this was probably put on the back burner because of another high profile football player's legal issues.