Dec. 8, 2012, will always be a tough date for former Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Josh Brent. Brent was charged with intoxication manslaughter when his teammate and good friend Jerry Brown was killed after the car Brent was driving crashed. In January of 2014, Brent was found guilty of intoxication manslaughter in the death of Brown and was sentenced to 180 days in jail and 10 years probation.

The devastating accident

In Josh Brent’s civil trial in December of 2018, he spoke publicly for the first time about the crash that killed his friend and Dallas Cowboys teammate Jerry Brown. According to the Dallas Morning News, Brent consumed two shots and two cognacs during dinner the night of the crash. The two players were at a now-closed bar called Beamers and Brent said he couldn’t recall how many drinks he had at the bar.

At the trial, Brent said he wasn’t intoxicated at Beamers when he got there but was when he left. Brent and Brown partied in a VIP area of the club. According to an article on ESPN, Brent’s car was traveling at a high rate of speed at 2:30 a.m.The car hit a curb and flipped over and skidded an estimated 900 feet. As police arrived, they saw Brent trying to pull Brown out of the burning car.

In a statement released through his lawyer, Brent said, “I am devastated and filled with grief. Filled with grief for the loss of my close friend and teammate, Jerry Brown. I am also grief-stricken for his family, friends, and all who were blessed enough to have known him. I will live with this horrific and tragic loss every day for the rest of my life. My prayers are with his family, our teammates and his friends at this time.”

Josh Brent forgiven by Jerry Brown’s mother

A week after the tragedy, Jerry Brown’s mother, Stacey Jackson, said she didn’t want Brent prosecuted. Jackson said the pain of having to relive that moment would be punishment enough for Brent. Jackson said she had forgiven Brent for the death of her son. The two were close friends and college teammates at the University of Illinois and now were teammates on the Dallas Cowboys.

“I’ve forgiven him, because he has enough on his plate with just reliving the whole thing over and over, and that’s going to be for the rest of his life,” Jackson told FoxSports. At a memorial service for her son, Jackson told Brent that she forgave him.

“(Brent) just knew that I was going to blame him, or go off on him or hit him – but no,” Jackson said back then. “Jerry would frown down on me if I did that, because that’s not the way I raised him. He wouldn’t want you to blame yourself, because both of y’all didn’t have seat belts. It was like a little burden lifted off (Brent).”

Brent arrested again in June, but arrest later withdrawn

Josh Brent, who has remained in football as a scout for the Dallas Cowboys, had an incident when he was arrested outside a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant in June. One of Brent’s probation requirements is to remain off drugs and alcohol and it appeared Brent had violated those terms.

According to dallasnews.com, police received a call about a man at Wendy’s talking to himself while sitting in the grass. When police arrived, they believed that man, Josh Brent, was intoxicated. When they told him he was going to be arrested, he resisted and had to be tased after becoming confrontational. He was taken into custody and admitted to being intoxicated at the time.

However, according to NBCSports, Brent’s arrest was withdrawn after Brent tested negative for alcohol and drugs. It was determined that Brent was having a mental breakdown and was undergoing treatment for the condition.