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Joey Porter -- a former NFL defensive superstar -- was arrested last week after Las Vegas officials say he wrote a rubber check ... as in, it bounced.

The 35-year-old former Super Bowl champ is currently behind bars in Kern County, CA ... where he was arrested in a warrant out of Clark County, Nevada for writing a check without having sufficient funds.

According to the Bakersfield PD, Porter was initially pulled over for a routine traffic violation Friday night when the officer noticed the warrant and arrested him.

The details surrounding the alleged bad check situation are unclear.