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Tyler Higbee is gravely injured, but he may not be receiving any prayers from fans anytime soon.
Early on Monday morning, the Los Angeles Rams announced that their veteran tight end had torn his ACL after a low hit by Kerby Joseph during their 24-23 loss in Sunday's Wild Card round against the Detroit Lions. He is the second tight end to suffer a season-ending injury at the hands of the sophomore safety, after the Minnesota Vikings' TJ Hockenson, who was, interestingly enough, Joseph's teammate for the first half of 2022-23.
"Tyler Higbee assault" has since been heavily mentioned on X, with comments like the ones below. Higbee does have a documented case of attacking another person, where he allegedly uttered, "ISIS these (censored)."
Tyler Higbee assault: Details about 2016 incident
The incident occurred at midnight on April 10, 2016.
It was just days before the NFL draft, where Tyler Higbee would eventually be selected 110th overall out of Western Kentucky by the freshly-returned Los Angeles Rams. Police in Bowling Green were notified of a man lying unconscious just outside a bar called Tidball's, He was identified as Nawaf Alsaleh. His assailant was already gone.
According to the tight end, the victim had been stalking him and his then-girlfriend Mollie Pajakowski from another bar called Dublin's all the way to Tidball's. He was allegedly "acting creepy" and was "coming on to her." He had also purportedly been challenged to a fight.
An argument ensued, and Higbee eventually punched Alsaleh in the face. He briefly began walking away before turning back and allegedly yelling, "ISIS these (censored)" (Alsaleh is a Saudi national) and "(expletive) you, go back to your country." The attack caused a brain hemorrhage and concussion.
In the ensuing trial in 2017, Higbee, now approaching his sophomore season in the NFL, pled guilty to assault under extreme emotional disturbance. To avoid imprisonment, he agreed to complete a pre-trial diversion program lasting at least five years, serve 250 hours of community service, and pay restitution to the victim.
The incident hurt the tight end's stock, as he had been initially projected to be a second-round pick.
