Cincinnati Bengals rookie wide receiver Jermaine Burton was accused of assaulting a 19-year-old woman he was dating, though no charges were filed against him, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported Wednesday.
Citing police reports, the Enquirer reported the woman made a 911 call that said Burton assaulted her, including choking, damaged her phone and held a knife to his own neck, threatening to kill himself, per the report. The woman declined to press charges.
“He broke into my house. He broke my phone. This is the second time he’s broken my phone in the past month. He broke my phone. He hit me and he left,” the woman told 911, the Enquirer reported.
The Bengals responded to the Enquirer’s request for comment with the statement: “We are aware of information related to Jermaine Burton. We will continue to evaluate as we gather additional details and will have no further comment at this time.”
The outlet also reported that Burton is facing eviction proceedings from his apartment.
The 911 call was placed Dec. 30, days before the Bengals’ regular-season finale at Pittsburgh. Burton did not travel with the team for the game, a move the Bengals called a coach’s decision.
Burton, 23, caught four passes for 107 yards in 14 games (one start) this season. He was selected in the third round of the 2024 draft despite concerns about his off-the-field behavior, which included being caught on video allegedly pushing the head of a female fan who rushed the field after the University of Tennessee beat Alabama in October of 2022.
“He does the right things on the field,” Nick Saban, Burton’s coach at Alabama, said after the Bengals picked Burton with the 80th overall pick. “But you got to do the right things in your life all the time so that you can do the best things you can do on the field and be the best you can be.”
–Field Level Media
