Former NFL quarterback Terrelle Pryor is facing a drug possession charge after a traffic stop in Monroeville.
Pryor, 36, a star quarterback at Jeannette High School who went on to play for Ohio State University and five NFL teams, retired in 2018.
On May 24, a Monroeville police officer was parked and observing traffic near 2725 Mosside Blvd. a black Mercedes-Benz passed at a high rate of speed, according to a criminal complaint.
Police stopped the vehicle, which pulled over on the shoulder of the Parkway East, the complaint said.
When the officer approached the vehicle, a backseat passenger — identified as Pryor— was lying in the rear seat, police said.
“Pryor was lying in an odd manner and breathing so heavily I could see the rise and fall of his chest through his shirt,” the officar who wrote the arrest complaint said.
Police saw the barrel of a rifle on the floor of the car and ordered Pryor to get out, according to the complaint. He was found to be in possession of a Glock handgun and a Radical Arms rifle, police said.
When officers asked Pryor for his identification and concealed carry permit from a wallet in his pocket, they said they saw “a knotted clear plastic baggie containing a powdery/rock substance” in his hand.
Officers took the baggie, which was suspected to contain MDMA, also known as Molly or ecstasy, according to the complaint,.
He was arrested on June 3 by Monroeville police.
This was not Pryor’s first brush with the law.
He was stabbed by his girlfriend in December 2019 and suffered serious injuries. In that domestic incident, Pryor pleaded guilty in Allegheny County to a summary count of harassment, while his girlfriend pleaded guilty to simple assault.
In 2022, he pleaded guilty in Westmoreland County Court to criminal mischief in relation to another domestic dispute.
And in late 2025, he was sued in Allegheny County for negligence after three women said he crashed into their vehicle on Pittsburgh’s South Side.
Pryor’s preliminary hearing will take place at 9 a.m. Aug. 3, according to court documents.
In 2024, Pryor filed a lawsuit against the NCAA, Big Ten, Ohio State and Learfield Communications seeking restitution for the use of his name, image and likeness stemming from his college football career.