Michael Floyd says he accidentally violated house arrest by drinking kombucha tea
The Minnesota Vikings may have put Michael Floyd in hot water by suggesting he drink kombucha tea.
A Scottsdale judge found Floyd in violation of the terms of his house arrest, which started in March, after failing three self-administered Breathalyzer tests and sleeping through a fourth. Floyd said he failed the tests after drinking kombucha tea while watching movies with teammate Kyle Rudolph on June 11. He claims he was not aware kombucha tea contains alcohol and that the team had told him to drink it.
On Monday, Floyd was sentenced to one day in jail and has to serve the final five days of his house arrest, which was previously slated to end June 17, according to ESPN's Josh Weinfuss.
Vikings chief operating officer Kevin Warren wrote a letter on June 21 corroborating Floyd's account.
"I am writing to request Mr. Floyd not have his court mandated requirements negatively impacted since he did not know the kombucha he ingested contained alcohol," Warren wrote in his letter.
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The letter was attached to a defense motion filed by Floyd's attorney to cancel a court hearing scheduled for Monday and reinstate electronic monitoring.
"Common sense alone dictates that Mr. Floyd would not jeopardize all of his hard work with only five days of home monitoring remaining," Floyd's attorney Robert Feinberg wrote in his motion. "Mr. Floyd simply would not have ingested kombucha tea had he known that it contained alcohol and would violate his home-monitoring terms."
The Vikings also released a statement later Monday in support of Floyd.
This all stems from the wideout's December DUI arrest, when he was found asleep behind the wheel of his running vehicle at a traffic light with a blood-alcohol level of .217. He was sentenced to 120 days in jail and served the first 24 days at the Maricopa County Jail in Phoenix before switching to home confinement.
In his letter, Warren explained that many pro athletes use kombucha as a probiotic and that it is available daily at the Vikings' facility.
Floyd, a five-year veteran, started his career with the Arizona Cardinals, and was cut by the team following the DUI. The New England Patriots picked him up for the remainder of last season, but he was inactive on their Super Bowl roster. On May 10, Floyd signed a one-year deal with the Vikings.
