CLEVELAND -- Former Cleveland Browns All-Pro Thom Darden, described by a government informer and accused drug trafficker as a cocaine dealer, has vehemently denied any involvement with drugs.
David Rice, testifying for the prosecution in a narcotics case in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Thursday, identified Darden and several others as people from whom he could obtain cocaine, although he never said he received the drug from them.
Darden at first laughed about the allegation, but then became angry.
'That's a real joke,' Darden said. 'I'll sue his pants off. This thing burns me up. I'm no angel, by any stretch of the imagination, but you'd never see me being associated with any dealings like that.'
Darden said he knew Rice slightly, when they worked for competing radio stations several years ago.
'I don't really even know the guy, to speak of,' he said.
Darden said Michelline Reddish, the defendant in the trial, at one time worked as an account executive at the same radio station as he, WHK-WMMS.
Rice testified he told police when he was arrested last November 'he had a list of people and friends who did drugs,' including Darden and Reddish.
Rice said after he was arrested he agreed to cooperate with authorities in trapping other drug dealers.
He testified that while he was getting 'wired' with a hidden microphone by agents on Dec. 13, 1984, he was given an FBI list of suspected drug pushers in the Cleveland area, a list that included Darden and Reddish.
An FBI spokesman refused to comment. An FBI agent involved in the case is scheduled to testify today.
Darden, a native of Sandusky, was Cleveland's No. 1 draft choice out of Michigan in 1972. He played through the 1982 season and set a club record in 1978 with 10 interceptions.
Darden has worked as a sales representative at WHK and had a one-hour jazz show on WMMS. He also was the Browns' representative in the Ronald McDonald House program, a temporary home for families whose children are receiving treatment for serious illnesses.
