Ex-NFL player denies 'unruly' behavior after Delta flight diverted
A former NFL player is speaking out after a report said he was removed from a Delta Air Lines flight from Chicago that turned around for what the airline described as an unruly passenger.
Delta flight 1902, which left Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Wednesday, July 16, bound for Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, returned after crew members "followed procedures to have an unruly passenger removed," Delta spokesperson Morgan Durrant told Paste BN.
Former NFL Pro Bowl defensive end Everson Griffen, who TMZ Sports identified as the passenger that was removed, posted an Instagram story saying: "I'm doing just fine. My behavior was not unruly at all. Why would they let me go.”
The Delta spokesperson did not identify the passenger, nor elaborate on what the passenger allegedly did. Paste BN has reached out to Griffen, 37, for more details.
Delta: 'Zero tolerance for unruly behavior'
According to flight tracking website Flight Aware, the Airbus A220 took off from Chicago at 11:15 a.m. local time and returned to the airport at 12:09 p.m.
"Delta has zero tolerance for unruly behavior and will always work with law enforcement to that end," Durrant said on July 17. "We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travel as safety and security comes before everything else at Delta."
4-time Pro Bowler
Griffen made four Pro Bowls in the NFL, all with the Vikings, after spending his college career at the University of Southern California.
Griffen took leave from the Vikings in 2018 to receive treatment for mental health issues, Paste BN previously reported. He spent the first 10 seasons of his NFL career with the Vikings, then split time between the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys in 2020 before signing a deal with Minnesota in 2021.
In 2024, after being pulled over by a Minnesota State Trooper in Minneapolis on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, Griffen replied to a post on a Vikings' fan page on X, publicly announcing he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
"You will have hard times," Griffen wrote. "The most incredible thing you can do is to listen to people who love you the most."
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for Paste BN. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.