Ex-Bucs DE Keith McCants arrested, facing cocaine charge

Former Alabama star and Bucs defensive end Keith McCants was arrested in St. Petersburg early Monday morning and is facing a felony charge of possession of crack cocaine, according to arrest records.

McCants, 50, was arrested by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and booked at 4:24 a.m. Monday. He is being held on $2,000 bond on the felony cocaine charge, and an additional $150 for a second offense of driving with his license suspended or revoked.

It's his ninth local arrest over four different counties since 2010. "Learn from me," he pleaded to modern players in the Sporting News in 2011 in detailing his battle with drug addiction after his football career.

McCants was an All-American at Alabama, selected by the Bucs with the fourth overall pick in the 1990 NFL draft. He did not find the same success at the pro level, getting 12 sacks in three seasons with the Bucs. His career was over by 1995 after three seasons and 1.5 sacks with the Oilers and Cardinals.

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McCants has been arrested eight previous times in the Tampa area since 2010, most recently in January on a felony charge of driving with a suspended license; he entered a not guilty plea on that charge and faces a jury trial July 10, according to court records.

He was arrested in Pinellas County on possession of cocaine charges in 2010 and 2011 and entered a guilty plea, serving 16 days in jail and probation. He was arrested locally on outstanding warrants from Alabama in 2011 and 2013. He was arrested in Pasco County in 2014 on a possession of cocaine charge and adjudication was withheld after probation in 2015. He served two days in jail in Hernando County last year from a 2016 battery count against him.