The week began with dreadful news: Morgan Freeman—the beloved actor whose comforting, buttery baritone could easily convince you to rack up credit card debt in the name of international athletic competition—was in a serious car accident along with a female passenger. Because both were wearing seatbelts in the 1997 Nissan Maxima, injuries were severe, but not dire. The actor suffered a "broken arm, broken elbow and minor shoulder damage," and required a four-and-a-half-hour surgery to "reconnect nerves and repair damage to his left arm and hand." A spokesperson said he was walking this morning and was looking forward to returning home.

As for the cause of the accident, officials have concluded that Freeman was completely sober at the time. Bill Rogers, a retired cop at the scene, told the AP that the roads were slick from a recent rainstorm, and that Freeman mentioned that "he may have gone to sleep but he wasn't sure.'' There's another likely factor, however: That Freeman—an unabashed speed freak—was gunning it when the car careened off the road and flipped twice before landing in a ditch. Consider this 2004 interview with Indy500.com, the year he was invited to drive the Indy 500 pace car:

Q: Morgan, you said a while ago that speed comes to you like a duck, or you do drive fast. What kind of cars do you own and what's the fastest you have driven competition-wise or anything else?

FREEMAN: OK. I have a Toyota Tundra six-cylinder truck, I have a GMC Denali eight-cylinder SUV, I have a duallie Chevrolet Silverado, and I have a BMW 745 that will actually do 160. Ask me how I know. (Laughter)

Q: How do you know?

FREEMAN: Been there. (Laughter)

And sure enough, another report has eyewitness Rogers recalling that Freeman kept repeating the same questions when reached by rescuers: "'Was I speeding, can I lay on the ground? Is everybody okay?'" Hey—if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, and drives like a duck, it's safe to say it probably has a leadflipper.

[Thanks to Gridskipper's Hunter Walker for the tip.]

• Morgan Freeman Press Conference Transcript (May 28) [Indy500.com] via Hunter Walker]
• Freeman recovering after surgery [BBC]
• Freeman still in serious condition after car crash [Southern Ledger]

Tags: gawker | lucius duck | morgan freeman | top