Michigan's Denard Robinson arrested for OWI in Ann Arbor

Popular former Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson, now on staff in an off-field role, was arrested for operating while intoxicated (OWI) early Monday morning in Ann Arbor and has been indefinitely suspended by head coach Sherrone Moore.

Robinson, 33, was involved in a single-vehicle crash at E. Eisenhower Parkway and S. State at approximately 3:05 a.m. when he was arrested, Chris Page, strategic communications manager for the Ann Arbor Police Department, confirmed to The Detroit News on Monday. Charges are pending toxicology results, according to Page.

A police report is not yet available but has been requested by The News.

Robinson was hired by former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh in February 2022 as assistant director of player personnel. He was retained on staff by Moore, who was named head coach in late January.

"We are aware of an incident involving Denard Robinson and have suspended him indefinitely," Moore said in a statement late Monday. "We will continue to monitor the situation and will have no further comment at this time."

This is the second OWI arrest for a Michigan football staff member in just more than a month. Greg Scruggs, who had been hired by Moore to coach defensive line, was arrested for OWI in the early hours of March 16 with double the legal blood alcohol content. He resigned on March 21.

Robinson, nicknamed “Shoelace” because he played football without his laces tied, played for the Wolverines from 2009-2012, is the NCAA record-holder for career rushing yards by a quarterback with 4,495 yards and single-season rushing yards with 1,702 in 2010, the same season he was named the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Year. The All-American was selected in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Before he returned to Michigan as part of Harbaugh’s staff, Robinson had spent two years in Jacksonville’s front office. He was an offensive quality control coach in 2020 before moving the next year to the personnel side as a college scouting assistant.

In 2016 while a running back with the Jaguars, Robinson was cited for careless driving a week after an accident on July 3 in which his car that rolled through a red light and into a retention pond, according to an Associated Press report. The Jacksonville Sheriff's officers found Robinson asleep in his Chevy Impala while it was sinking in the pond.

Robinson and his cousin, who also was in the car, were unhurt, but officers had to tell Robinson multiple times the car was in the pond and persuade him to get out of the car, according to the police report. One officer questioned Robinson and determined he was not impaired, according to the AP story.

Robinson insisted he wasn't under the influence of drugs or alcohol when he fell asleep behind the wheel of his car that rolled through a red light and into a retention pond."I feel blessed, man," Robinson told reporters at the team's first training camp practice. "It could have been asituation where I couldn't be talking to y'all right now. The situation could have been way worse than that. I couldhave hurt somebody or killed somebody. I'm truly blessed that nothing happened to nobody."

Robinson said he dozed off at the intersection a little after 4 a.m. after a "busy day." He said he "probably should have just stayed in."

angelique.chengelis@detroitnews.com

@chengelis