INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis Colts safety Mike Doss was
suspended Wednesday by the NFL for the first two regular-season
games after pleading no contest to misdemeanor gun charges.
Doss was sentenced to community service last week after pleading
no contest to misdemeanor gun charges in Akron, Ohio, where he was
arrested after firing a gun into the air outside a restaurant on
May 29.
"We support the policy and the commissioner completely and
therefore left it in his hands. He has acted," Colts president
Bill Polian said of the decision by NFL Commissioner Paul
Tagliabue.
"We hope this swift sure action by the commissioner sends a
signal to all concerned, players and fans alike; that actions such
as those engaged in by Mike Doss will not be tolerated in the NFL
or with the Colts."
Under the league's suspension, Doss may participate in all
preseason practices and games but must sit out the first two
regular season games — without pay — Sept. 11 at Baltimore and
Sept. 18 at home against Jacksonville. He will be eligible to
return to the active roster on Sept. 19.
"We hope that Mike has learned a positive if costly, lesson
from this experience," Polian said. "Our expectation is that he
has and that he will return to our team as the major contributor he
has been in the past.
"The Colts consider this matter closed."
Doss faced a felony weapons charge and three misdemeanor charges
after his arrest by Akron police.
He pleaded no contest last week to misdemeanor charges of
carrying a concealed weapon and firing a weapon within city limits.
He was sentenced to 40 hours community service, fined $1,000 and
ordered to destroy the gun. A 180-day jail sentence was suspended.
Doss later apologized to the court, the city of Akron, the Colts
and his family.
"He just wants go to back to playing football," said his
attorney Jon Sinn.
Doss, selected in the second round of the 2003 draft from Ohio
State, has 150 career tackles and had three career interceptions
over two seasons.