Former Oakland Raiders LB Kaluka Maiava Jailed for Bar Brawl

Once known for having a team filled with players who had “character concerns” the Oakland Raiders have largely remained out of the NFL’s police blotter in the new decade as a new era with a new general manager in Reggie McKenzie has weeded out the Warren Sapp’s of the world and replaced them with players who stay out of trouble more often than not. In fact, the Raiders have had one of the NFL’s lowest arrest rates over the past few seasons, players wearing the Silver and Black rarely finding themselves in the back of police cruisers these days.

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However one former Raider from recent years got himself into some trouble related to a bar brawl he got in back in 2013 as Kaluka Maiava will be spending half a month in prison for a wild night in Maui. A brawl that happened just days after Maiava signed a contract with the Raiders now two seasons ago, getting himself into trouble before focusing on trying to break into the Oakland roster as a linebacker.

According to a USA Today report, Maiava plead no contest to the charges and will be spending 15 days in jail for his connection to the vents that happened in Hawaii. His time served will be spent in the Maui Community Correctional Center for an assault charge that warranted prison time for the ex-Raiders and ex-USC Trojan.

The report also mentioned that if Maiava can successful complete one year of probation he can keep the assault charge off of his criminal record. His lawyer also tried keeping him out of any prison time by stating spending 15 days in jail could hurt his football career. Something that did not get past the judge who wasn’t about to give any special treatment to a free agent football player by downgrading the 15 day stint.

From USA Today

"Free agent linebacker Kaluka Maiava has pleaded no contest to assault charges for a brawl at a Maui bar that happened in 2013 days after he signed with the Oakland Raiders.Maiava turned himself in Monday afternoon to the Maui Community Correctional Center to begin serving a 15-day jail term, the Maui News (http://ow.ly/JLJiU ) reported.A judge denied his request to reduce the jail time but gave him the chance to keep the conviction off his record if he successfully completes a year of probation. “Under the circumstances I see in this case, the 15 days in jail was warranted,” Wailuku District Judge Kelsey Kawano said.Maiava’s attorney, Ben Lowenthal, argued that a conviction would hurt his football career. Maiava was released from the Raiders last year after a hamstring injury. The Baldwin High School graduate played for the University of Southern California before being drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL draft."

It is interesting to note that Maiava’s lawyer feels that a 15 day jail term is going to keep what is a fringe NFL talent out of the league more than his client’s average talents and apparent lack of dedication to football over getting into a bar brawl days after signing with a team. However that was the claim that was made as the attorney for Maiava claimed that if he was sentenced to jail time (as opposed to simply being charged with assault and put on probation) that he would have little chance of making a career in the NFL.

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“This conviction will have an adverse effect on his ability to join another team and continue playing professionally — despite being in good condition and healthy to play,” Lowenthal said according to the USA Today report. “A conviction should not be the final factor that leads to an early end to a professional football career.”

Maiava’s NFL career already appeared to be over after he was sent packing by the Raiders during the 2014 season. Often injured and rarely ever productive for either Oakland or his previous NFL stop with the Cleveland Browns, the fact was that Maiava was likely done with the game at 27 years old before the assault charge. 18 tackles over two seasons with the Raiders definitely paints the picture of a player who won’t be getting a third chance in the league after spending six years in the league.

Regardless it appears that the Raiders made the right call in releasing Maiava mid-season as the linebacker was always injured and based on the report did not exhibit much professionalism in the offseason when it came to getting better. The bar brawl is just one incident, but the fact that it happened days after getting a contract with a new team in Oakland after four years in Cleveland is not a good look. Hopefully if Maiava does get another chance in the NFL he learns from his mistakes, but at 27 with below average production it appears that his time in the league is over with this incident.

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