NAVARRE, Fla. -- Former NFL quarterback Jim McMahon was
charged with drunken driving Sunday after police said his car was
swerving across the center line of a highway before being pulled
over.
Getty ImagesJim McMahon has always marched to a different drumbeat.
McMahon, the flamboyant leader of the Chicago Bears' 1986 Super
Bowl championship team, was stopped around 2 a.m. Sunday after
police received two calls about a pickup that was recklessly going
through traffic and nearly causing accidents, said Santa Rosa
County sheriff's spokesman Jerry Henderson.
McMahon failed a field sobriety test and had a blood-alcohol
level more than three times the legal limit in Florida, Henderson
said. One breathalyzer exam put McMahon's blood-alcohol level at
0.261 percent, another put it at 0.258 percent. The legal limit in
Florida is 0.08 percent.
"During a sobriety test, Mr. McMahon looked at the officer and
said, 'I'm too drunk. You got me,'" Henderson said. "He was
pretty well wasted."
McMahon posted $500 bond and was released from Santa Rosa County
Jail on Sunday morning. He is expected to make a court appearance
Monday.
McMahon threw for 18,148 yards in 119 NFL games. His best season
was 1985, when he set career highs in yards (2,392) and touchdowns
(15) for the Bears, who went 15-1 and beat New England in Super
Bowl XX. That was McMahon's only Pro Bowl season.
The former Brigham Young star left Chicago in a 1989 trade with
San Diego and also played for Philadelphia, Minnesota, Arizona,
Cleveland and Green Bay.
