Ted Ginn Jr. built a career on speed. On Saturday morning, it caught up with him in the worst way.
The 41-year-old former NFL wide receiver and current head coach of the UFL’s Columbus Aviators was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated — a Class B misdemeanor — after being stopped by Euless Police in Tarrant County, Texas, in the early hours of April 12, 2026. According to available records, Ginn was pulled over at 12:58 a.m., administered a field sobriety test, and subsequently booked. He was released after posting a $1,000 bond around 1:40 p.m. that same day.
The Fallout Comes Fast
By Sunday, Ginn wasn’t on the sideline. Todd Haley stepped in as interim head coach for the Aviators’ game against the Dallas Renegades, while Ginn’s situation was still unfolding publicly. The league and team have not yet issued a formal disciplinary statement, but the optics — a first-year head coach sidelined by a DWI charge before the season hits its stride — aren’t exactly ideal for a franchise still trying to establish itself.
Ginn, for his part, didn’t hide. In a statement posted to X on Sunday, he wrote: “I made a serious mistake and take full responsibility for my actions. I’ve always believed in accountability and now it’s my turn to live that standard.” ESPN noted the statement Sunday, and while it’s the kind of language crisis communications coaches tend to draft in their sleep, there’s something to be said for not going silent.
Who Is Ted Ginn Jr., Exactly?
For anyone who followed the NFL between the mid-2000s and late 2010s, Ginn needs little introduction. A first-round pick out of Ohio State in 2007, he spent parts of 13 seasons in the league — with stops in Miami, San Francisco, Carolina, New Orleans, New England, and Chicago — carving out a reputation as one of the most electrifying return specialists of his generation. He was never a marquee receiver, but he was the kind of player defenses had to account for every single snap.
Transitioning to coaching was, by most accounts, a natural next step. Fox4 covered the arrest as the story of a former NFL star now navigating a very different kind of spotlight — and not the kind anyone chooses.
A Charge That Carries Weight
Still, context matters. A Class B misdemeanor DWI in Texas is the entry-level charge — it doesn’t suggest a pattern, and no additional details about the circumstances of the stop have been made public. But that doesn’t mean it disappears quietly. Coaching in a developing professional league means every decision, on and off the field, shapes how players, fans, and league officials see you. Ginn is building something in Columbus. This is a setback, full stop.
What happens next — whether the UFL takes formal action, whether Ginn returns to the sideline immediately or faces a suspension — remains to be seen. YouTube footage surfaced quickly after news of the arrest broke, a reminder that in 2026, nothing stays local for long.
He said he believes in accountability. Now the league gets to decide what that looks like from the outside.
