Category: Telvin Smith

Former Jags LB Telvin Smith pleads no-contest to child abuse charges, receives 3 years probation

Former Jags linebacker Telvin Smith received three years probation after pleading no-contest to child abuse charges.

Former Jacksonville linebacker Telvin Smith has reached a plea agreement after his arrest last April for unlawful sexual activity with minors, a second-degree felony in the state of Florida. Smith pled no-contest to the lower charge of child abuse and was given three years of probation. As part of the plea agreement, Smith maintains his innocence, his attorney, Hank Coxe, said, according to ESPN’s Mike DiRocco.

“Great player. Great person. Great father,” Coxe said in a statement. “Huge fan of this town. He will move on and do fine.”

Smith was initially arrested at his Queen’s Harbour home on April 29, 2020, by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office following a sixth-month investigation. According to Smith’s arrest warrant, he’s accused of sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl multiple times, both in his home and vehicle. Smith had knowledge of the girl’s age, according to the warrant.

As part of his plea agreement, he must undergo psychosexual counseling and refrain from contact with the 17-year-old girl, as well as any other girls under the age of 18 that aren’t family members until approved by counselors.

Smith originally joined the Jaguars as a fifth-round pick in 2014, and he was a Pro Bowler and Second Team All-Pro selection in 2017. On May 19, 2019, Smith announced on Instagram that he would not play football in 2019 to “get his world in order.” He didn’t appear for another game in the NFL after that.

Retired Jags LB Telvin Smith cited for animal neglect

Retired Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith has once again found himself in trouble with the law. Per the Florida Times-Union, he was recently given five citations for animal neglect. Per the Jacksonville Animal Care and Protective …

Retired Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith has once again found himself in trouble with the law. Per the Florida Times-Union, he was recently given five citations for animal neglect.

Per the Jacksonville Animal Care and Protective Services, Smith left multiple dogs tethered and unwatched on his property. Additionally, the dogs in which he was cited for neglecting were dogs in which weren’t registered.

According to the report, two of Smith’s citations state that at least one dog was tethered in some way with no owner nearby. The dog (or dogs) were restricted to the point of being “unable to move 10 feet in all directions,” an officer reported.

There was another citation that stated at least one dog was tethered “with no shelter, tangled and unable to reach water.” Additional citations he was hit with included tethering a dog within close range of a fence (less than five feet), no proof of licensing for a dog (or dogs), failure to provide food or water, and one dog had no documentation of vaccinations.

These additional citations to Smith’s record come over a year after he was arrested for unlawful sexual activity with certain minors and released on bail hours afterward. The trial for that citation has been rescheduled various times according to the Florida Times-Union, but currently is set for Sept. 17.

Smith’s court appearance for the five animal neglect citations is set for Aug. 26, per the report.

Retired Jags LB Telvin Smith pleads not guilty to charge of unlawful sexual activity with certain minors

Telvin Smith pleaded not guilty to his charge of unlawful sexual activity with certain minors and now has a court date set for May 20.

Retired Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith pleaded not guilty to last week’s charge of unlawful sexual activity with certain minors, according to Duval County court records.

Smith, 29, was arrested on April 29 for the charge and was booked at 5:20 p.m. EST. He posted his bail of $50,003 and now has a court date scheduled for May 20.

Smith could do up to 15 years if found guilty on the charge that has been placed on him as the Florida court system classifies the it as a second degree felony. Smith’s plea of not guilty was through his attorney and he relinquished his right to be present at all conferences that could take place before the trial.

Smith’s situation with the law last week wasn’t his first in recent history, as there was police activity spotted at his Queens Harbor residence in late November of 2019. In the process, a black Cadillac Escalade owned by Smith (mentioned in New 4 Jax’s link above) was seen being towed away.

The Jags didn’t comment on the situation afterward because it’s an ongoing situation.

Smith announced that he’d be stepping away from football in May of 2019 to get his “world in order” and would look to dedicate his time to himself, his family and his health. That eventually led to the Jags placing him on their reserved/retired list in July.

Former Jags LB Telvin Smith arrested for unlawful sexual activity with minor

A forme Jags player has found himself in a troubling situation with the law.

Retired Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith was arrested Wednesday afternoon on counts of suspicion of unlawful sexual activity with certain minors, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

Per Duval County’s jail records, Smith was officially booked at 5:20 PM EST with his bond for release was set at $50,000.

Per the legal statuses of Florida, the charge Smith was arrested on is defined as follows:

“A person 24 years of age or older who engages in sexual activity with a person 16 or 17 years of age commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.”

This isn’t the first time Smith’s name has been connected with police authorities as he was in the news last November due to police activity being spotted at his Queen’s Harbor residence. In the process, a black Cadillac Escalade reportedly owned by Smith was seen being towed away from the scene.

Per Mike DiRocco of ESPN, the Jaguars are presently aware if the situation but weren’t able to comment due to their being an ongoing investigation.

Back in May of 2018, Smith announced that he’d be stepping away from football to get his “world in order” and would look to dedicate his time to himself, his family and his health. That eventually led to the Jags placing him on their reserved/retired list in July.

We’ll update this story when more becomes available via Jacksonville authorities. 

 

 

Telvin Smith breaks silence, says he turned down offers to play in 2019

Telvin Smith has been low-key as of late but broke his silence Tuesday to briefly communicate with the fans.

It’s been a while since fans have heard from Telvin Smith directly but the veteran linebacker broke his silence Tuesday. Through his Instagram page, the veteran made a series of posts and addressed his fans by stating he turned down several opportunities to return to the field but still loved the game of football.

Smith didn’t specifically say who reached out to him to return to the field, however, if it was another NFL team, it could be considered tampering.

As for the remainder of the post above, it’s a little hard to decipher what Smith is eluding to, but some fans have speculated that he’s referring to the game of football not loving him back. In all probability, we can speculate that he’s not talking about his mental health because he told a fan back in October that his reasoning for not playing wasn’t mental health-related.

As many are aware, Smith announced that he would not play football in 2019 early in May after team executive Tom Coughlin indirectly called him out for not attending voluntary workouts and the team drafted Quincy Williams to potentially replace him. Of course, that blindsided fans because Smith was just a year away removed from a Pro Bowl nod and was one of their most productive players, racking up 586 career tackles, 26 pass breakups, and 7.5 sacks.

Smith also offered some thoughts on the recent passing of NBA legend Kobe Bryant as he too is the father of several children. Smith specifically mentioned wanting to get things right for his youngest child — his daughter, who is just five years old.

Clearly, his series of posts indicate that he won’t be returning to the Jags anytime soon. However, there may be updates on his well being down the road as he could be active more on social media in 2020.

Report: Police activity spotted outside of Jacksonville home owned by retired Jags LB Telvin Smith

Multiple sources have reported police activity outside of the home of a retired Jaguars player.

Multiple units from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s office were spotted outside of a residence in which is owned by retired Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith. Activities were initially reported around 5:30 p.m. ET at Smith’s Queen’s Harbor home, per John Bachman of Action News Jax.

Not too soon after the police activities were reported, a black Cadillac Escalade which was reportedly owned by Smith was seen being towed away from the scene. However, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s office has yet to provide an update on the situation.

As most are aware, Smith didn’t report to any of the Jags’ offseason or preseason activities due to needing to step away from football for personal reasons. In a letter he posted via Instagram, the veteran said that he needed time to get his “world in order” and would look to dedicate his time to himself, his family and his health. That led to the Jags placing Smith on the Jags’ reserve/retired list in July.

Smith was spotted at a local Jacksonville high school game in October and gave a brief update on his status. He told Marcel Robinson of Action News Jax that all was well but his mind wasn’t set on playing football at the moment.

Smith accumulated 586 career tackles to his name along with 7.5 sacks, nine interceptions, five forced fumbles and three touchdowns. He was also named to the 2017 Pro Bowl roster with teammates A.J. Bouye, Jalen Ramsey (at the time), Calais Campbell, Malik Jackson and Yannick Ngakoue.

Todd Wash discusses why Jags are having issues against the run

The Jags’ linebacking corps has been an issue all year and DC Todd Wash confirmed the main issue most fans have been pointing to all along.

The Jacksonville Jaguars team as a whole has struggled in their last two games but the fans especially have been pointing fingers at the defense, who’ve struggled mightily against the rush. Dating back to their loss to the Houston Texans in London they’ve given up 480 total yards to opposing rushers and many fans have pinned those issues on the team’s linebacking corps.

Heading into this regular season, the linebacker position was an area of concern with Telvin Smith’s retirement and Myles Jack not having a strong 2018 season. Now, the fears of the fanbase have seemingly come true, as the group is struggling with shedding blocks, which has led to some of the Jags’ issues against the rush.

Jags defensive coordinator Todd Wash pretty much confirmed what some fans were speculating about the linebacker play Thursday and admitted he has to do a better job prepping his unit in general.

“Well in our system we’re an attack front, so it’s not like we sit and try to cover up linemen and keep them off the second level, Wash said. “So, within our system that’s not what we do. Some systems they do, but for us, we’re an attack system and then when you get on a block you have to get off a block is basically the way our system is built from the front seven and nickel, or the front eight and base.”

Wash added that playing “downhill,” as some have suggested, isn’t necessarily the answer either because in today’s game that would put the linebackers out of position to help out in the passing game, too.

“Not that everybody knows, but if our linebackers just run downhill, we’re going to get killed in the passing game,” Wash added. “It’s just the way we play our system. It’s the way Gus [Bradley] plays it, it’s the way [Robert] Saleh plays it, it’s the way they play it in Seattle. Your linebackers can’t get just downhill, a lot of people don’t understand that, a lot of people don’t understand football to be honest with you. So, our scheme allows them to go east and west, but when he does see it, we need to see our linebackers getting downhill better than we have.”

Of course, all of the statements above are not to say the linebackers are solely to blame, but they’ve clearly been a big part of the defense’s issues. Add in the loss of Smith’s pursuit speed and now fans are looking at a defense that is significantly worse than 2017’s group, which led the team to the AFC Championship.

Needless to say, the Jags’ inability to get off blocks are just some of the fundamental things the team has likely emphasized in practice this week. However, with the Tennessee Titans, Derrick Henry and their powerhouse mentality up next, we’ll see just how much they have improved throughout practice as Wash’s job could hang in the balance.