Incognito arrested after threatening funeral home staff

Former NFL offensive lineman Richie Incognito has been arrested on charges he threatened to shoot employees of a funeral home, authorities said Tuesday.

Police in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale said Incognito was being held on suspicion of misdemeanor charges of threats and disorderly conduct.

It was unclear if Incognito had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.

Police said Incognito was at the Messinger Pinnacle Peak Mortuary on Monday to make arrangements for his father, who died last weekend.

“Incognito reportedly was upset with staff and began to damage property inside the business and shout at employees,” said Sgt. Ben Hoster, a police spokesman. “At several points during his contact with staff, Incognito threatened to retrieve guns from his vehicle and return to shoot the employees.”

Incognito, 35, attended a Phoenix-area high school before playing college football at Nebraska and having an 11-year NFL career with St. Louis, Miami and Buffalo.

He was released by the Bills three months ago from the reserve/retired list, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Incognito was suspended by the Dolphins in 2013 for bullying a teammate and arrested last May in Florida for allegedly throwing a dumbbell and tennis ball at another gym patron.

Soccer

UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDS POGBA » By placing the captain’s armband on Paul Pogba, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho might have thought he would quell growing speculation about the World Cup-winning midfielder’s future at the English club.

Comments by Pogba himself, and the player’s outspoken agent, over the last two days have only added to the uncertainty.

After what he acknowledged was a poor individual performance in United’s 3-2 loss at Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday, Pogba said he “should have done much better” and that his “attitude wasn’t right.”

United’s sloppy display and Pogba’s central role in it invariably attracted plenty of criticism, as with anything involving Britain’s biggest soccer club. One of its greatest players of recent years, Paul Scholes, lamented the “lack of leaders in the team,” a not-so-subtle condemnation of Pogba.

That prompted backto-back tweets on Tuesday from Mino Raiola, Pogba’s larger-thanlife representative, who said Scholes “wouldn’t recognize a leader if he was in front of Sir Winston Churchill.” It was a reference to the British prime minister during most of World War II.

Raiola followed that up with a post that was as scathing as it was intriguing.

“Paul Scholes should become sports director and advise Woodward to sell Pogba,” he wrote, referring to United vice chairman Ed Woodward, the most powerful figure at the club besides members of the Glazer family. “Would be sleepless nights to find Pogba a new club.”

The fact that Raiola veered toward the topic of Pogba’s future is significant. The midfielder could still be sold to a leading European club this month as the transfer window remains open in Spain, for example and Barcelona have been linked with a move for Pogba.