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A quarterback for the New York Jets (not Mark Sanchez) got into a heated altercation with LAX cops today, causing him to be escorted out of the airport.Geno Smith was waiting for a Virgin America flight to Las Vegas today when he was asked to wait to board the plane, Deadspin reports he refused to get off his cell phone while the plane was on the tarmac, according to the New York Post. Cops were called, and the Jets quarterback ended up getting kicked out.
Initially, a tipster who wrote into Deadspin described the scene:
We were waiting for our flight at LAX to Vegas and were put on standby on Virgin American just like Geno. We were told to get seat assignment at 2:40. Apparently Geno was not on board with that. My friend walked over to discuss seat assignment and Geno was saying to airline ticket agents, "Fuck that, this is bullshit." "Why the fuck do I have to wait until 2:40." He would not let it go. He continued to curse and be loud for about 5 minutes. Police were called. They talked for a few minutes and then 3 officers escorted him out of the terminal.
Meanwhile, a TMZ cameraman was on the scene (naturally) and bugged Smith (naturally) about the incident. Smith denied it ever happened. But this photo, also provided by Deadspin, kind of proves otherwise:
Geno Smith allegedly escorted off plane by LAX cops: http://t.co/0qJNTlfafh
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) January 17, 2014
This seems pretty bad, but at least it's not as bad as what Kellen Winslow did.
UPDATE 1/18: The New York Post is reporting that Smith did not get kicked off the plane after throwing a tantrum over seat assignment. An airport official told them that Smith was refusing to get off his cell phone while in the plane. In the words of the LAX official, Smith, "pulled an Alec Baldwin."