Raiders’ Davante Adams cleared of misdemeanor assault chargers for shoving photographer

A frustrated Davante Adams shoved a photographer after the Raiders‘ October loss to the Chiefs on Monday Night Football, and the wideout faced potential legal legal repercussions. The Kansas City Police Department charged the star wide receiver with misdemeanor assault, municipal court records revealed, a day after the photographer filed a police report. On Saturday, The Kansas City Star reported that the charges have since been dismissed.

Ryan Zebley, a freelance cameraman who was working for ESPN during “Monday Night Football,” claimed to have suffered whiplash, headaches and a possible concussion after Adams pushed him to the ground on his way to the locker room. Video of the incident shows Zebley walking in front of the receiver after the game, then falling backward after Adams used two hands to shove him out of the way. He reportedly voluntarily sought hospital care afterward, citing “injuries … thought to be non-life-threatening.”

Adams, meanwhile, apologized for his actions both on social media and to reporters after the game. 

“Sorry to the guy I pushed over after the game,” he initially wrote on Twitter. “Obviously (I was) very frustrated at the way the game ended and when he ran in front of me as I exited, that was my reaction and I felt horrible immediately.”

“Before I answer anything else,” Adams said later that day, “I wanna apologize to … some guy running off the field, and he ran — jumped in front of me — (when) we were coming off the field, and I bumped into him, kinda pushed him, and he ended up on the ground. So I wanna say sorry to him for that, because that was just frustration mixed with him literally just running in front of me. And I shouldn’t have responded that way.”

Raiders coach Josh McDaniels, for what it’s worth, defended Adams’ character in light of the incident.

“I support Davante wholeheartedly as a human being,” McDaniels said, per ESPN. “As a person, he’s a great guy. I know that was an unfortunate situation. We obviously don’t want any of our guys to be doing anything like that. He knows that. He’s very well aware of that. But I know the person; I don’t think there was any intent behind it, on his part. But whatever (the NFL) asks of us, whatever they need from us, obviously we’ll comply.”