According to The Athletic, Raheem Sterling, the former Manchester City and England winger, recently pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and possession of nitrous oxide, before a judge who warned he could face jail time when he returns to Basingstoke Magistrates' Court on November 25. From a Premier League champion and World Cup international to potentially facing prison, Sterling's fall has been shocking, but the most pressing question remains unanswered: what exactly led him to this point?

As Sterling prepared to leave the courtroom, a staff member beside him warned that a small group of photographers was waiting outside.

After one of the most humiliating experiences of his life, it was time to face the cameras. "If I were you, I'd walk out backwards," someone suggested.

Sterling has been told by a district judge that he could be jailed when he returns to Basingstoke Magistrates' Court on November 25, after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and possession of nitrous oxide.

In other words, for a player who not long ago was a Premier League champion with Manchester City, represented England at the World Cup, and was awarded an MBE by the late Queen for his contributions to football and racial equality, the worst may still be to come.

Of course, after details of his reckless driving on the motorway emerged in court, few would be willing to defend someone in this situation – or indeed to hear any mitigating circumstances.

In his trial, sitting in Court One, you could sense the sheer recklessness in Sterling's thinking before he drove after using nitrous oxide during rush hour on May 28 – because recklessness is the only word that truly fits.

We saw dashcam footage, which made it easy to understand why one of the drivers who called police said she was genuinely concerned someone could die.

We learned that within a 67-minute period, from 7:45am to 8:52am, a series of 999 calls had drawn the attention of three police forces to Sterling's £270,000 Lamborghini, which was weaving across lanes on the motorway, regularly exceeding speed limits, while he inhaled nitrous oxide from balloons behind the wheel.

We saw the damage to his car after he finally drove off the A327 in Hampshire, and most shockingly, we learned that he had been driving in this dangerous and uncontrolled manner for a long time before even reaching the motorway. Indeed, the first 999 call came at 1:10am, when he accelerated into a McDonald's drive-thru in Hayes, North London, and began inhaling nitrous oxide from balloons while waiting for food. Sterling later admitted he had not slept all night.

Yet we have never received a detailed answer to the obvious questions that arise from a case of this nature.

Sterling, what happened? What brought you to this point? Where did it all go wrong? And perhaps most importantly, what can football learn from this?

Until then, it may be fairer to reserve judgment. Don't fall into the trap of assuming that because clubs like Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool have paid Sterling a fortune, he is any less vulnerable than anyone else.

It is not easy being a footballer who cannot play, and Sterling has faced all of that in ways he could never have imagined over the past few years – loss of status, erosion of identity, a sudden sense of powerlessness. At 31, his career appears to be over, or at least certainly heading toward that point. He has had no club since leaving Feyenoord in the Eredivisie at the end of last season. It is a painful and very public fall.

This is not to justify his reckless behavior behind the wheel, which could have resulted in a far more serious – and potentially fatal – incident on the M25 and M3. Only luck and the actions of others prevented tragedy.

But it is important to consider whether Sterling's troubles stem from his final season at Chelsea, when he was frozen out and not even allowed to train or interact with his former teammates.

Sterling spent seven months at Chelsea without playing a single match, eventually having to hire a personal trainer to maintain his fitness. Again, this does not entirely excuse his poor decisions. However, it may help us understand his mental state, his lack of professional focus, and why he struggled to make any positive impact after joining Feyenoord (reportedly to get his career back on track).

Right now, all that can be said with certainty is that if a talented, famous footballer endangers lives in this manner and tells police he has a "problem" with nitrous oxide, then something has seriously gone wrong.

His defense team will argue that a suspended sentence is appropriate, meaning he will avoid jail as long as he doesn't reoffend within a set period. Perhaps the judge will be lenient, accepting that his early guilty plea, combined with his lack of previous convictions, warrants sparing him from prison.

But when you consider that this man was recently regarded by many as a role model, and not just because he twice finished in the top 15 of the Ballon d'Or voting (in 2019 and 2021), this case remains deeply troubling. Whatever the verdict in November, Sterling has done considerable damage to his own reputation.

This may be the saddest aspect, particularly given years of discussion about media coverage of Sterling and the headlines a young, successful, Black footballer can attract.

Many of us defended him at that time. We argued he deserved support, and that we needed to change, not him.

Today, however, defending him is far more complicated. The headlines will be damning, and he deserves them. When sentencing comes, regardless of what the judge decides, it will be the same. And the danger is that amid all the commentary, a crucial point gets overlooked: a young man has admitted he has a "problem."

Nearly four months after his arrest, the court has not clarified whether this problem still exists. Or whether "problem" is a euphemism for "addiction." But one would hope that the Professional Footballers' Association and other relevant organizations are working to find out. Because Sterling may need not just punishment, but help.

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