INDIANAPOLIS (June 15, 2005) -- Indianapolis Colts safety Mike Doss was suspended 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.
