Mark Rypien, the MVP of Super Bowl XXVI, has been charged with domestic violence in Spokane, Washington.
KHQ.com reports that police arrested Rypien at an intersection in town, where both Rypien and his wife, Danielle, were out of their car. When police arrived, Mark Rypien was standing in the nearby grass, and Danielle was lying in the grass.
After medical personnel spent roughly five minutes evaluating Danielle Rypien, police spoke with the couple for approximately 45 minutes. Eventually, they handcuffed Mark Rypien, placed him into a police car, and took him to jail.
Mark Rypien went public more than a year ago with the struggles that he has endured since retiring from the NFL, struggles that he has attributed to the many concussions he suffered while playing.
“People think you have to be knocked out to have a concussion,” Mark Rypien said at the time. “There are hundreds of times you shake it off and get back in there. It’s all about the cumulative hits. That’s what cause brain damage.”
“I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, he’s going to end up in a home,’” Danielle Rypien said. “I didn’t want him running around the street with a shopping cart.”
Mark Rypien has been charged with fourth degree assault/domestic violence. He will appear in court on Monday.
