Dancing With the Stars winner and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward was arrested on a drunken driving charge, sheriff’s officials in Georgia said.
The Dancing With the Stars champ was booked into DeKalb County jail outside of Atlanta early Saturday morning for driving under the influence. He was released on a $1,300 bond, the Associated Press reports. Now, Ward is saying that he wasn’t driving while drunk, TMZ reports.
Ward’s manager Andrew Ree said Saturday afternoon, “He cooperated fully with the police and truthfully answered all of their questions. We are currently in the process of ascertaining all the facts. From our preliminary investigation we can tell you that we are confident that the facts will show that Hines was NOT impaired by alcohol while driving.”
“However, Hines is deeply saddened by this incident and apologizes to his fans and the Steelers organization for this distraction,” Ree added.
Additional information could not be released about Ward’s arrest, according to the sheriff’s office. A spokeperson for the Steelers did not respond for comment, the AP says.
Ward was drafted in the third round from the University of Georgia in 1998 and has won two Super Bowls, winning the MVP award in one of them. Ward was the second NFL player to win Dancing With the Stars. Former professional football player Emmitt Smith won the award in 2006.
