New Seahawks CB Quinton Dunbar, what really happened at that house party in Florida?
The question is one every fan, every person who’s heard about his bizarre armed-robbery case in Florida, wants to know.
Quinton Dunbar, what exactly happened at that house party in May? What got you facing life in prison — until prosecutors suddenly dropped all charges against him two weeks ago?
“I can’t really comment on that situation, with the ongoing case still going on,” the new Seahawks cornerback said Friday before his fifth practice with the team. “So I can’t really speak on what happened.
“But the truth will eventually come out.”
Four people accused Dunbar of joining New York Giants defensive back DeAndre Baker, who is from Dunbar’s hometown of Miami, in robbing them of thousand of dollars in cash and jewelry May 13, allegedly over disputes from gambling. Baker is still charged. He is heading to trial for armed robbery.
Those four victims and a witness then recanted the statements they initially gave a police investigator in Broward County, Florida, the night of the party about Dunbar’s alleged involvement. The New York Daily News last month cited warrants it got in a public-records request that the newspaper said showed the victims and a witness received payments in the Miami office of Dunbar’s then-lawyer in the case, a bribery scheme to change their stories.
They changed their stories in affidavits attorney Michael Grieco presented in Dunbar’s defense in the only court hearing he had, his bond hearing May 17 before he was released from Broward County jail on $100,000 bond. That was in mid-May.
“Honestly, I don’t know those guys. Never met those guys the day before I came encounter(ed) with them,” Dunbar said Friday. “I pretty much don’t know nothing about these guys.
“At the end of the day, I’m good. My name’s cleared. That’s all that matters.”
Dunbar acknowledged the NFL could still suspend him for games this season. Commissioner Roger Goodell has that latitude per the league’s personal-conduct policy. Goodell has suspended players after NFL investigations separate from law-enforcement and prosecutors’ investigations, including in cases without charges filed against a player.
That’s why Seahawks defensive tackle Jarran Reed got suspended for the first six games of the 2019 season, even though prosecutors in Bellevue declined to charge Reed in an alleged domestic-violence incident years earlier at his home there.
“I mean, that’s definitely a possibility,” Dunbar said of an NFL suspension. “The league is run by the league, so, I mean, who knows? I’m not saying it’s not going to happen. I’m not saying it is going to happen … who knows?
“It’s a possibility, though.”
Dunbar, 28, grew up in Miami’s Overtown area. It’s one of that city’s most-disadvantaged neighborhoods. He graduated from Booker T. Washington High School before playing for the University of Florida upstate in Gainesville.
He said the last few months have been life-altering.
“I mean, a few months, when you are facing armed robbery, man, that carries life in Florida. So … that’s self-explanatory,” he said. “It’s just a hard pill to swallow.
“Growing up where I come from, man, it wasn’t nice. I’ve just got to learn to protect my energy and protect my space. You can’t be around everybody, you know, or try to make everybody happy. You’ve got to understand who you are and what you’ve worked hard for, and you’ve got to protect that.
“Because everybody don’t have great intentions.”
Per conditions of his release from jail he was prohibited for months from leaving Florida, until a judge granted him permission in July to go to Washington to take part in Seahawks training camp. He didn’t miss any Seahawks workouts during that time. The coronavirus pandemic canceled all minicamps and offseason practices. Dunbar stayed connected with the team that traded with Washington in March to get him through daily player and coach meetings online via Zoom.
Thursday was the first time he was with the starting defense, during a red-zone drill against Russell Wilson and the offense. It was Dunbar’s fourth practice after reporting and going through a five-day COVID-19 testing protocol.
He said the welcome he’s received from teammates and the Seahawks organization that stood by him throughout his case has meant “everything to him.”
“These guys are amazing. They welcomed me with open arms,” Dunbar said. “But they’ve been doing that those whole few months. You had guys reaching out to me: ‘Wags’ (team captain Bobby Wagner), (Shaquill) Griffin, there’s a bunch of guys, you know, letting me know that they are praying for me, ‘Hang in there.’ …
“So I didn’t expect nothing but them being the same way that they’ve been treating me.”
The Seahawks’ support came while he said he was so depressed by his legal troubles he wasn’t eating.
“Oh, man, it was everything, man. I had a long few months, man,” he said. “Just going through the situation I was going through, it was hard for me to do anything. So just to get back to training and running and trying to get back is everything to me. …
“Once I got in that situation I was depressed. I couldn’t really do anything.
“I couldn’t eat.”
Asked what he wants fans to know and believe about him, Dunbar said: “I mean, I feel like before that situation it spoke for itself. Never been to jail. Never been in trouble. Never came (in an) encounter with the police from doing anything illegal.
“Now, all of a sudden when I make it this far, with everything I grew up wanting, I just put it out there on the line for something silly like that?”
He shrugged.
“Well, people are going to believe what they want. But I know who I am and what I stand for. That’s all that matters to me.”
The Seahawks stuck with Dunbar throughout the 2 1/2 months between the night of the house party Dunbar attended in Miramar, Florida, and the decision by prosecutors to drop the charges against him. His new team that had just traded for him wasn’t about to presume him guilty until proven so, without him participating in one practice let alone a game for Seattle. But that’s what some were calling on the Seahawks to do.
“I’m very appreciative. They’re definitely was by my side the whole way,” Dunbar said.
“But at the same time, I know what I did do, and I know what I didn’t do, and I wasn’t even really worried about football at the time. I was just worried about clearing my name.”
Now, he’s arrived to a condensed, COVID-19 training camp to win the starting right cornerback job opposite Griffin, Seattle’s Pro Bowl cornerback. It’s why the Seahawks traded for him, two months before the mess he got in at that party in May.
Tre Flowers remains the starting cornerback he’s been for the last two seasons. For now.
Dunbar says he’s got a ton to catch up on and learn in Seattle’s defense before the opener Sept. 13 at Atlanta.
Asked what the biggest thing is he needs to work on, he said: “Everything, man. Everything. …
“To come in late, and then coming into a new defense … I’ve got a long way to go.”
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 1:26 PM.
