Speaking to the news media for the first time since he was cited for reckless driving on Thursday morning, Vikings first-round pick Jordan Addison apologized Wednesday for going 140 miles per hour on Interstate 94, calling it a "really poor decision that I'll definitely learn from."
"I just want to reiterate that I take full responsibility and full ownership of my actions last week," Addison said. "It's never a good thing when 'KOC' [coach Kevin O'Connell] or [General Manager] Kwesi [Adofo-Mensah] have to answer questions or address questions about me off the field, so I just want to apologize to everyone for that."
Addison made a similar apology in a statement released Friday after the speeding incident.
On Wednesday, Addison would not go into detail about why he was driving so fast or discuss his comments to a State Patrol officer that his speed was due to the fact his dog was having an emergency at his house.
"I can't really get into too much detail about what happened," he said. "It's still a legal matter that's going on. I acknowledge that I used poor judgment."
The receiver also did not discuss whether he had been punished by the team for the incident. Adofo-Mensah said Tuesday the Vikings were still discussing whether to punish Addison, adding he'd heard from the receiver's family since the citation. O'Connell said Tuesday that both he and Adofo-Mensah had talked to Addison several times since Thursday morning, saying he was disappointed in Addison's decision while reiterating he believed in the receiver's character.
"Things like that can't happen again, regardless of what may have caused him to drive that fast," O'Connell said. "He's always been a guy through the whole draft process and getting to know him, his family and everything, I have 100 percent confidence in Jordan and that he's going to have a great camp. But I still feel strongly about the type of person and player we added to our team."
Addison has a court appearance scheduled for Sept. 19 in St. Paul. He's being represented by Minneapolis attorney Gerald Miller, according to court records.