When Michael Floyd blamed kombucha tea after testing positive for alcohol, thus violating the terms of his house arrest, most of us rolled our eyes. However, the Minnesota Vikings not only believe him, they’re going to bat for him.
Vikings COO Kevin Warren penned a letter defending Floyd, noting the team has kombucha tea “on tap” and that it encourages players to drink the tea for its health benefits.
“I am writing to request Mr. Floyd not have his court mandated requirements negatively impacted since he did not know the kombucha he ingested contained alcohol,” Warren wrote in the June 21 letter (h/t Brian Murphy of twincities.com), which was cc’d to Vikings president Mark Wilf, general manager Rick Spielman and coach Mike Zimmer.
In addition, in his sworn affidavit, Floyd says he hired a forensic pathologist, Thomas L. Bennett, to corroborate the blood-alcohol readings that showed up on his tests as being consistent with his assertion he failed the tests because of the kombucha tea.
“To a reasonable degree of medical and scientific certainty,” Bennett wrote that Floyd’s breath alcohol levels of .044-.055 percent “are achievable and consistent with ingesting kombucha, in the circumstances and time frames as Michael Floyd described.
“This living and dynamic beverage, kept at room temperature, will continue to change during storage. Alcohol is a natural and expected component of this process.”
The Vikings receiver strongly denied a TMZ Sports report that indicated the home-administered tests showed “high-alcohol” content.
Floyd is currently expected to begin the 2017 NFL season out of the lineup for the Vikings on suspension, stemming from his 2016 DUI arrest. He could obviously face further discipline for the failed home-administered alcohol tests, whether he’s found to be guilty of violating the terms of his house arrest or not.