Jaguars New Assistant Coach Putting Alcohol-Fueled Past Behind Him

In 2006, Joe Cullen, former assistant coach for the Detroit Lions, was sentenced to two years of probation and mandatory Alcoholics Anonymous meetings after he was arrested twice in one week for drunk driving. Now an assistant with the Jaguars, the 42-year-old Boston native is asking for a chance to show people that he's conquering his demons. 

"First, if there's anyone out there that's perfect, I'd like to meet them," Cullen said in an hour-long interview with the Florida Times-Union. "Number two, with me and my isolated incidents, I've never been in trouble in my life other than when alcohol was involved. So I made a promise to myself that alcohol and I weren't going to be teammates any more.

"I know my judgment - what I'm going to do and what I want to do - is clear. I think if you show true remorse, and you're willing to do whatever it takes to better yourself, not just as a football coach but as a person, then, to me, people deserve second chances. You're always going to have people that are going to doubt you, always going to have people say, 'Ahhh, you shouldn't have hired that guy.' That's what I'd say to that," Cullen said.

Gene Frenette of the Times-Union writes that being hired by the Jaguars represents a professional rebirth for Cullen, who says he has three and a half years of sobriety.

On Aug. 24, 2006, the night before a preseason game, Cullen gained league-wide infamy for pulling up at a Wendy's drive-through in Dearborn, Michigan, while naked behind the wheel of an SUV. A restaurant employee witnessed the incident around 11:15 p.m. and reported it to police, who charged Cullen with indecent and obscene conduct.

Eight days later, he was stopped by police shortly before midnight for driving his Ford Explorer without its headlights on. Cullen was charged with drunk driving for having a blood-alcohol content of .12, over Michigan's legal limit of .08. After the second incident, the Lions suspended him for the season-opening game against Seattle.

Later that season, the NFL imposed its own punishment for those two incidents, fining Cullen $20,000 and suspending him for a Week 16 game against the Bears for conduct detrimental to the league.

In February, 2007, Cullen reached a plea agreement on all the misdemeanor charges against him. He was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings twice a week.

Cullen, who worked last year as the defensive coordinator at Idaho State for longtime friend John Zamberlin, went through the NFL-sponsored alcohol rehabilitation outpatient program from September 2006 until the following July. Cullen attended the Maple Grove program run by director Tom Ghena, who worked with him in group meetings and one-on-one sessions.

It never occurred to Cullen until he was arrested twice in a one-week span that he had a problem with alcohol. From the time he was an adult, he says he often went long periods without drinking, but it took the embarrassment of making the wrong kind of headlines to realize he was going down a bad road.

"I could go six months without a drink, but I couldn't guarantee I'd stop at two or three when I did drink," he said.

When asked about the Wendy's incident, Cullen said: "Well, it's simple; it's called a blackout, so I don't know," Cullen said. "When you have a blackout, bang. You realize through being educated [about alcohol consumption] that you drink too much. I'm sure there's a lot of incidents out there where people don't remember a thing they did the night when they were drinking. That's basically what happened."

Cullen, who credits his "strong Catholic faith" for helping him through the darkest period of his life, has remained clean since the second DUI offense.

Subscribe to RSS