New England Patriots

Michael Floyd says he accidentally violated house arrest by drinking kombucha tea

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

Sports Illustrated, Khadrice Rollins/Sports Illustrated

The Minnesota Vikings may have put Michael Floyd in hot water by suggesting he drink kombucha tea, and the team is now now coming to his defense.

The wide receiver possibly violated his house arrest, which started in March, after failing three self-administered Breathalyzer tests and sleeping through a fourth, according to twincities.com. Floyd said he failed the tests after drinking kombucha tea while watching movies with teammate Kyle Rudolph on June 11. Floyd's 96-day house arrest was slated to end on June 17.

Floyd claims he was not aware kombucha tea contains alcohol and that the team had told him to drink it. Vikings chief operating officer Kevin Warren wrote a letter on June 21 corroborating Floyd's account.

"I am writing to request Mr. Floyd not have his court mandated requirements negatively impacted since he did not know the kombucha he ingested contained alcohol," Warren wrote in his letter.

The letter was attached to a defense motion filed by Floyd's attorney to cancel a court hearing scheduled for Monday and reinstate electronic monitoring. At the time of the incident, Floyd was five days away from completing his 96-day home detainment.

"Common sense alone dictates that Mr. Floyd would not jeopardize all of his hard work with only five days of home monitoring remaining," Floyd's attorney Robert Feinberg wrote in his motion. "Mr. Floyd simply would not have ingested kombucha tea had he known that it contained alcohol and would violate his home-monitoring terms."

The prosecutor in the case, however, told the Pioneer Press Monday that Floyd's defense shouldn't prevent him from serving out his full sentence.

If the hearing is not canceled, Floyd will have to convince Scottsdale City Judge Statia Hendrix to not revoke his bond and send him back to jail.

This all stems back to the wideout's December DUI arrest, when he was found asleep behind the wheel of his running vehicle at a traffic light with a blood-alcohol level of .217. He was sentenced to 120 days in jail and served the first 24 days at the Maricopa County Jail in Phoenix before switching to home confinement.

In his letter, Warren explained that many pro athletes use kombucha as a probiotic and that it is available daily at the Vikings' facility.

Floyd, a five-year veteran, started his career with the Arizona Cardinals, and was cut by the team following the DUI. The New England Patriots picked him up for the remainder of last season, but he was inactive on their Super Bowl roster. On May 10, Floyd signed a one-year deal with the Vikings.