Ex-NFL player cleared in NY case involving wife

NEW YORK - Former New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers player Luke Petitgout has been cleared of charges of shoving his wife out of a moving car.

The Manhattan district attorney's office dropped the misdemeanor harassment case Tuesday. Prosecutors told a judge it couldn't be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Petitgout was excused from court. His lawyer, Dennis Ring, said afterward the case "should never have been brought."

He declined to give Petitgout's account of the Aug. 2 episode that prompted his wife to file a police report.

He was accused of hitting her with her purse and pushing her from the car.

The former offensive tackle played college football at Notre Dame. He spent eight seasons with the Giants and one season with the Buccaneers. They released him in 2008.