PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Tennessee Titans rookie David Howard has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor assault charge in Rhode Island.
Howard entered the plea on Monday to a charge of simple assault. The defensive lineman out of Brown University was accused in April 2009 of punching and kicking a customer at a bar where he was working as a bouncer.
The Providence Journal reports that the plea does not constitute a conviction and that the charge will be wiped from his record if he stays out of trouble for a year.
Howard's lawyer did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.
The Titans selected Howard in the seventh round of the draft.
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press