In 2015, the Arizona Cardinals under head coach Bruce Arians went 13-3-0 and captured the NFC West Division title. After an embarrassing 49-15 loss to the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Championship Game, it was determined that the defense needed some extra care.
So, with the 29th pick in the 2016 NFL draft, Arizona selected DT Robert Nkemdiche out of Ole Miss as a run stopper. He played three seasons with the Cardinals, then he signed with six different teams in three leagues before hanging up his
cleats in 2024.
This past week, Nkemdiche was arrested in Georgia after a shoplifting spree from a Kroger Grocery Store.
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According to TMZ, the law was called when store employees noticed that Nkemdiche had concealed multiple items in his pants and then walked out of the store. An officer was already outside conducting a business area check when Nkemdiche exited. According to the police report, the officer stated that Nkemdiche had “many large objects, square and rectangular shapes, consistent with concealed grocery items, inside his sweatpants.”
Backup was called on the 31-year old former defensive tackle as Nkemdiche walked to a nearby gas station once he noticed police. The officer then made contact with him, detained Nkemdiche, and immediately placed him in handcuffs as an investigation began into the incident.
Yes, he was detained for “groceries in his pants.”
When the officer cuffed and searched Nkemdiche, he no longer had any food products in his sweatpants. When backup arrived, a search of the area in which Nkemdiche had gone revealed that the officers found many Kroger food items, such as almond milk, frozen food, and candy bars.
With Nkemdiche still detained, officers attempted to return the food items, but the store stated all of it was perishable and could not be restocked. Kroger declined to press theft charges, but wanted Nkemdiche to be criminally trespassed from that particular store.
After getting an accurate ID from Nkemdiche, police then discovered that he had multiple warrants in several states, including three in Georgia alone which were all charges of failure to appear. The local police then requested a hold on Nkemdiche until further investigation and kept him in the back of a police cruiser. Eventually, he was taken to jail and booked.
Nkemdiche is no stranger to the law. In 2015, he was busted for drug possession (weed) after an incident when he fell from a hotel’s fourth-floor window. In 2019, he was pulled over for speeding and arrested while driving with a suspended license. In March of 2025, he was arrested on an incident where he allegedly threatened multiple people at a bowling alley in Union City, Georgia. Several months later, Nkemdiche was arrested for shoplifting a bottle of wine from a convenience store in Buford, Georgia.
In high school, Nkemdiche was voted the Gwinnett Daily Post “Defensive Player of the Year” in 2011. He had a laundry list of top-flight schools that offered him a scholarship, and then attended Ole Miss for three years before declaring early for the 2016 NFL draft. The Cardinals selected him late in the first round.
The Cardinals signed Nkemdiche to a four-year, $8.60 million contract that included $8.15 million guaranteed. His signing bonus was $4.45 million. In his three years with Arizona, he played in 27 games with six starts. Not exactly what the coaching staff had in mind when they took him in Round 1. 44 total tackles, 4.5 sacks, two batted passes, and 10 hits is what Arizona got for their money for the three-year span.
In the summer of 2019, the Cardinals waived him with a failed physical designation one day after he arrived for training camp, vastly out of shape. At the time, Arizona head coach Kliff Kingsbury stated:
“Not in shape, I guess. And that’s kind of where we’ll leave it. I mean, he’s on [the physically unable to perform list], and he’s working through that. When he is cleared, we’ll work with him. It’s just a performance-based business, and we decided as an organization that it was best for us. We wish him well and hope he gets a fresh start somewhere else. And that’s really all it came down to.”
This came one month after Nkemdiche had been arrested for driving on a suspended license and excessive speed.
After his release, Nkemdiche posted on Instagram, which no longer appears on his account:
“I’ll internally bleed red forever, thankful for the opportunity to grow as a player and experience the culture it was an ecstatic ride. The fans, coaches, teammates only love and genuine moments. But, Nothing last forever time to continue the journey and keep elevating, on to the next fix … let’s go!!!!!!!!!!”
He was then signed by the Miami Dolphins on a one-year, $1.16 million contract, but began the season on the PUP list. He was activated in Week 8, then released seven days later. The following season he spent most of the year on the practice squad of the Seattle Seahawks. In 2022, he signed a one-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers with no guaranteed money, but was cut a month later.
Nkemdiche then signed to play for the Michigan Panthers of the UFL, but eventually was released. In 2024, he played four games with the Edmonton Elks of the CFL but ended up on IR.
Nkemdiche’s father is a cardiologist, and his mother is a politician.
Nkemdiche made $13.8 million in his NFL career, plus he was paid by the UFL and CFL. If you have never tried almond milk, apparently, it is worth going to jail for.
