Arrested on Saturday for assaulting a man at a birthday party, Minnesota Vikings tailback Caleb King is already in a mess of trouble. And as more details about the incident begin to surface, King's immediate future as an NFL player looks to be in serious jeopardy as well.
The man King attacked, 22-year-old Andrew Hayek, is reportedly "up and moving and doing better" after suffering a fractured skull and having his nose completely reconstructed, but remains hospitalized. The Star Tribune had more on the assault:
When Hayek told King around 3:15 a.m. Saturday that he resembled Eddie Murphy, the mood changed dramatically.
According to an Anoka County sheriff's report, Hayek went outside to wait in a vehicle for a ride home. King allegedly confronted Hayek outside the car and struck him in the face.
Hayek got into the car, locked the passenger door and called 911. King allegedly opened the driver's side door, pulled Hayek from the car and struck him several times in the head and face before throwing Hayek head first to the ground.
According to Hayek's sister, her brother is roughly 5'6" and 130 lbs, so it's not as if he was some sort of threat to a professional athlete in King's mold. But the Eddie Murphy comment, despite being relevant for being uttered at 3:15 am, is such a playful comparison that it's extremely peculiar for King to react the way he did.
Regardless, it's clear that alcohol was heavily involved in King's decision-making, and that this situation is only going to get more media coverage in the coming days. For now though, we can take solace in the fact that Hayek is indeed improving, even if the days of Caleb King in a Vikings uniform might be a thing of the past.
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