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See, they should have waited!
The Bears cut defensive tackle Tank Johnson last week following his arrest in Arizona on suspicion of DUI, before even getting all of the facts in the case. At the time, we suggested that maybe they should have waited until the blood alcohol content results came back rather than making such a hasty decision.
On Monday, the results came back and showed that Tank's BAC was .072 — below the .08 limit for DUI.
Now the Bears look silly because, after standing by him through numerous arrests for serious charges, through a 60-day stay in the county lockup, though an 8-game suspension by the NFL, they have essentially cut him for a speeding ticket. This whole controversy started when Johnson was pulled over for driving 40 mph in a 25-mph zone in Gilbert, Ariz., a little over a week ago. Who doesn't do about 40 in a 25? Could his stop and arrest even have been a case of DWB — driving while black? Certainly, there are many cops who might be suspicious of a black man, driving a nice car, late at night. But that is not a crime.
We understand the tough love and final chances, but should this have been the event that caused the Bears to cut him? A damn speeding ticket? What if he'd been ticketed for jaywalking? What if he'd been in a fender bender on the way to pick up his child at school? Would those also have embarrassed the organization such they they'd have cut him in those circumstances, too?
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Rember the circumstances involved. He was on his last chance. He needed to stay out of all trouble. So now he gets a speeding ticket at 3:30am after drinking. I believe that does not qualify as staying out of trouble. I think this makes the Bears looks stupid for keeping him in the first place. Tank will never change. He has a history of terrible decisions going back through college even to his high school days. It was so bad that I believe more than half of NFL teams had removed him from draft consideration.
Good riddance to Tank.
I have to agree with you, Benjy. I think Tank was making a sincere effort, and I was happy to see the Bears standing with him through his ordeal. But then they wreck everything by turning their backs before waiting to see the facts. I understand the guy's saga looked like it was just going to go on and on, but this just wasn't enough to finish it. This could have caught even the best of the Bears.
And really, there's another way for the Bears to look at the media angle of this thing. Subtract Tank Johnson from last year's equation, and how many more question about Rex Grossman's mental deficiencies does Lovie have to answer? How many more times does Lovie have to say, "I know the guy throws like my grandmother's favorite librarian, but Rex IS our quarterback."
why do rich people insist on driving themselves?
Benjy
Except that, at least in Illinois, you can be convicted for impaired driving even though your BAC is under .08. Please read:
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/news/442250,2_1_AU25_DUI_S1.article
He was going 15 mph over the speed limit in a 25 mph zone, which usually means a residential neighborhood. I don't want to live on your street if you are going that fast near homes. He placed himself in the situation, he got pulled over (don't know ANY cops who wouldn't pull someone over going that fast in a neighborhood, and I know lots of cops), he needs to own up to the consequences.
.072 BAC != sober
I agree... they should have waited for the test results. It's not a crime to be out until 3:30 in the morning. Personally I would have cut the guy last year, but if the Bears were willing to stick by him through everything else, you'd think they could have stuck through a damn speeding ticket.
To those of you who thought Tank was cut too soon...
Tank was under a zero tolerance/last chanc to save his job. Remember when the judge put him on house arrest along the lines of "don't stop for a burger...straight to work and back"? I am sure that's the restrictions the Bears put him under.
Tank made a number of promises to the NFL and to the Bears that he would change his ways. He refused to live up to his end of the bargain, so the Bears have no reason to live up to theirs.
What is the saying Mom always used ... nothing happens after 2 a.m. that you'd want to happen ... can't remember how that goes. But Tank should take it to heart.
Tank *wasn't* sober. He just was (barely) under the legal limit for getting a DUI. There's a *big* difference.
so long, tank!
zero tolerance. that was what he was under by the bears and that what i have for him as a player. the bears made the right move. it's got to be about a team and not an individual. there's too much drama surrounding him. it takes away from the team. look at the '85 bears and you see a team of strong personalities, but each and everyone would give up the spotlight to make sure the team would win. yes, mcmahon was brash and loud, perry consumed anything not nailed down, and steve mcmichael... well, mongo was mongo. still, they fell in line behind a strong coach and followed his lead and won a super bowl. yeah, tank's talented, but he's not worth the hassle. let's forget about him and look forward to a team that's going places.
Getting pulled over at 3:30 AM is very, very easy to do (sometimes you just have to be out driving and see a police officer). Making sure you haven't drank enough to be impaired is, in some cases, much tougher. I don't think Tank has been very smart with many decisions he's made in the past, but he actually managed to do OK with this one. And that was the one that ended it for him..
Does anyone else find it the least bit strange that they had to TAKE BLOOD and wait A WEEK to find out the information that most impaired drivers find out in the time it takes to breathe into a breathalyzer???
Something else is going on here.
Sure, the Bears has a "zero tolerance" policy with Tank following everything. But where is the threshhold of what constitutes a transgression? Spilling his Gatorade on the coffeet table by accident? Forgetting to take out the trash when his wife asks? Parking ticket? Speeding ticket? I'd say set the bar at the level of misdomeanor...
The blood test is the more accurate test, vx. a blow test. And yes, most toxicology reports take up to a week or longer (six weeks in cases of a fatality).
Sure, the Bears has a "zero tolerance" policy with Tank following everything. But where is the threshold of what constitutes a transgression? Spilling his Gatorade on the coffee table by accident? Forgetting to take out the trash when his wife asks? Parking ticket? Speeding ticket? I'd say set the bar at the level of misdemeanor...
I am guessing the Bears told him, no Booze, go home and sleep every night. Someone needs a ride at 03:00, call a cab for them.
Personally, I am down with Tank, it's now old news and the team will move one without him.
One, he can still be charged with driving while slightly impaired in Arizona and two, he refused the breathalyzer and made them take him to the hospital and have blood drawn.
You think that in the time it took to do all that his BAC might have dropped .008 points? I do.
When someone is paying you millions of dollars tells you to stay out of trouble you don't go out drinking until 3:00 in the morning. That just isn't staying out of trouble and is definitely a justifiable reason for the Bears to kick him to the curb.
I've had enough of hearing about his nonsense. I'm glad the Bears finally stood up and did what's right. Don't pay idiots millions of dollars to make you look bad.
yes, he can still be charged with DUI... And at that point the Bears would be justified in cutting him. But at .072 it's not automatic so they'd have to prove he was impaired. Until then it was just a speeding ticket.
yeah, you don't have to be over the legal limit to be considered drunk. in fact, you can get a DUI or DWI or whatever for driving on cold medicine if it causes you to drive poorly/erratically. it's under "the influence," not necessarily of alcohol. in WI, i think it's a DWI, which is "while intoxicated," but again, i think you can get busted for being loaded on a variety of things at a variety of blood levels.
and i don't know that it's a matter of people making the bears 'look bad,' but i think it's more a matter of the NFL deciding not to gloss over criminal activity anymore. how many times can someone do illegal things and keep their job in the ... well, the non governmental world?
it's a precedent that needs to stop and one that is a horrible model to give to kids. "you can do whatever you want and get away with it if you're a rich sports star." ack.
Don't you all remember the news reports when this story first broke? It was all about him being "impaired to the slightest degree" but not charged with DUI. To me, that suggests the finding that he had a BAC of "only" 0.072 wasn't a surprise to anyone.
0.072 does not mean "sober" - it means "not legally intoxicated."
This does not make the Bears look silly. I'm fairly certain the Bears knew that Tank was under 0.08 well before this story broke... just like I'm fairly certain they didn't really care what his BAC was, only that he was back in the news looking stupid, and that they have zero tolerance for stupidity from him.
I fully support the Bears' decision to let him go. If I had an employee acting that way, with that history, I wouldn't want him working for me either. While the straw that broke this camel's back may be pretty small in comparison to his other troubles, it's easy to see from Tank's history that this was the right choice. Give him a fresh start somewhere else.
That's right -- an employee in a company gets a DUI, they should be fired! They obviously can't perform their work monday through friday if they drink on saturday night, right? I blame it on Mayor Daley and the CTA for not expanding to Arizona..