Donovan McNabb: Cough medicine, not alcohol, to blame

GILBERT, Ariz. -- Former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit when he was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Arizona last month, police said Tuesday.

Police in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert said lab tests show McNabb's blood alcohol level was 0.17. The legal limit in Arizona is 0.08, and anything 0.15 or higher qualifies as extreme DUI.

A message left at a phone number listed for the 38-year-old McNabb was not immediately returned.

It was the second DUI arrest for McNabb in 18 months. He served a day in jail after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor DUI charge resulting from an arrest on Dec. 15, 2013 in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community east of Phoenix.

He also was ordered to pay a fine of nearly $1,500 and enter an outpatient treatment program in Scottsdale.

In the latest incident, police said McNabb's vehicle rear-ended one driven by the wife of a Gila River tribal police officer. A responding officer said McNabb's eyes were "very bloodshot and his speech was slurred," according to the arrest report.

In police video of the late-night arrest on June 28, McNabb tells an officer he had just left a sports bar and was driving home. He goes on to say he hasn't been drinking and that he's sick.

"Well, first of all, I got a cold. So I've been on cough medicine," McNabb says.

Asked if he had any recent head injuries, McNabb says, "Listen, I played football." The officer then says he is aware of who McNabb is.

The video was first aired by TMZ.com.

No injuries were reported in the collision. McNabb was cited and released from a police facility.

McNabb played 13 years in the NFL after being drafted by Philadelphia with the second overall pick in 1999.

He led the Eagles to four straight NFC championship games from 2001 to 2004 and one Super Bowl berth that ended in a 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots in 2005.

McNabb played for the Washington Redskins in 2010 and Minnesota Vikings in 2011 before retiring.

He had been serving as a commentator for Fox Sports but was suspended indefinitely from the TV network after the arrest, his second DUI arrest within the past two years.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.