A former NFL player accused of drunkenly hitting one man and urinating on another during a flight from Boston to Dublin has been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, police have said.

Gosder Cherilus, a first-round pick of the Detroit Lions in 2008 and also played for the Indianapolis Colts and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was arrested early on Sunday after the Delta Air Lines flight returned to Logan International Airport.

Troopers ordered the 40-year-old from Wakefield, near Boston, US, to leave the plane but he “became irate and uncooperative”, police said.

He was then arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and disturbing a flight crew.

According to the police report, he appeared drunk when he boarded the plane, allegedly argued with the flight crew about his seat and an hour into the flight urinated on an elderly passenger.

He then hit another passenger and took that passenger’s seat before passing out, the report said.

The Boston Globe said Cherilus was arraigned Monday in East Boston District Court.

“It’s pretty egregious what you did, as alleged,” Judge Debra DelVecchio told Cherilus.

In a post Monday on the social platform X, formerly Twitter, Cherilus apologised to the passengers and flight crew, claiming he had taken a sleeping medication that he does not normally use and that this caused his bad behaviour.

A phone number could not be found for Cherilus.

The Globe reports that he and his lawyer, Brian Sullivan, did not speak to reporters as they left the court.

In a statement Monday, Delta confirmed there had been an “unruly customer” on the flight and that the other passengers were later flown to Dublin.

The airline did not say how long the flight was delayed.

“Delta has zero tolerance for unlawful behaviour and will cooperate with law enforcement to that end,” the company said in a statement.

“We apologise to our customers for the delay in their travel.”