OT: Did the bears jump the gun on Tank Johnson ?

Was curious to see what people here thought.

In my opinion they did.

 

I stand by what I said on June 25th. Tank Johnson basically was waived because he was driving his car unimpaired at an "unacceptable" hour.

That is a raw deal.

 

I dunno, I feel like he put himself on the line, saying he was going to win Person of the Year, and he's a boyscott from here on out. With his track record he needed to be inside his house before midnight. The guy is making millions and millions of dollars, and he can't even last two months without making the papers.

 

Bull.

He said he was going to become a model citizen and that his goal was to become "NFL Man of the Year" .... being out at 3:30 am, speeding, and having a BAC of .072, is not exacly keeping his word to the Bears and Goodell on how he would conduct himself. He was 2 sips of beer away from a DUI.

He had enough chances. This was not just a single incident, but the final straw in a series of problems that Tank Johnson has had.

Raw deal my ***. He got what he deserved. Tank Johnson didn't grow up after saying he would.

 

QFT

 

At least he pulled over.

 

Pastabelli column

Bears told Johnson they'd have zero tolerance

 

Raw deal? I don't think so.

Tank was given every opportunity to become a model citizen, especially AFTER doing jail time. He failed. Whether or not he was over the legal limit doesn't mean dick in this case. He had yet another run-in with the law and the Bears said SEE YA.

Breaking the NFL's code of conduct DOES NOT mean having to break the law first. Every player has to abide by that. If they don't, then it's good bye.

 

Are you kidding me? Pick up a player that's done jail time and was picked up by the police AGAIN? Not no, but HELL NO.

 

He was drinking and driving, he just wasn't legally drunk.

 

Is it illegal to drink and drive? :icon_shrug:

Are you saying that after 1 beer I shouldn't drive? What about 6? :icon_huh:

 

Driving 40 MPH in a 25 MPH zone is more than enough reason to get pulled over.

He lost his job because he was out of chances. He knew he had a zero tolerance policy, yet he opted to disregard that and go out, drink, and then drive.

I saw that other thread (and other forums) where people here think driving 40 in a 25 is no big deal. I totally disagree. I have yet to see a 25 zone that didn't have a reason for it.

The Bears absolutely did not jump the gun. They told Tank what the rules were (see above Pastabelly link). He could not get in ANY trouble again. He was lucky he didn't get canned after the last incident, but the Bears gave him one more chance.

He was not legally drunk, but impaired enough to not drive the proper speed limit. He made the wrong choice. He paid for it.

BTW: He didn't blow into the straw at the time of the arrest. He gave a blood sample later, back at the police station (or hospital). How much time elapsed from when he was pulled over until when he gave the sample? Was that enough time for his BAC to downgrade by .008 .... the difference between the .072 BAC he was measured at and the .08 that would have made him "drunk" ???

He was drinking and driving. That was enough to cue the zero tolerance policy the Bears had enacted on him, and to can his *** from the team. He absolutely deserved it.

 

Once again, the NFL has a CODE OF CONDUCT that ALL players MUST FOLLOW. It DOESN'T MATTER if they have broken the law or not. Why is that so hard to understand?

And if you think that big corporations don't have something similar in place, think again. For high profile positions like CEO, CFO, COO, VP of whatever, they make it very clear that ANY action that has the potential to put the company in a bad light, they can terminate your contract. They might have to pay out your salary or award stock options. But they can be rid of you rather quickly.

 

If it were a broken tailight WOULD WE EVER HEAR about it? NO. Would the Bears have heard about it? NO. But because he was pulled over, and the police had reason to haul him in and check his BAL, that IS enough for the Bears to say, "we've given you enough chances, BUH-BYE".

 

Tank could very easily have been playing Madden at a buddy's house; I've done that until very late at night. It doesn't necesarily mean he was out clubbing.

And like I posted before, there are plenty of streets where the speed limit might be 25, but everybody goes 35 or 40. We don't know those circumstances.

Johnson is already being punished for the multiple offenses with the suspension. The guy gets a speeding ticket and loses his job. It still doesn't seem right to me.

 

Conc -

It's not this specific incident that got him canned, but the cumulative effect of many incidents and having a zero tolerance policy on his conduct (to retain employment) after he was released from jail.

I think you are trying to separate this incident from his past, and that is not the circumstances with which he was under. If this had been his first problem, then he would not have lost his job.

There are many jobs where this incident would disqualify a person from working for their current employer. When I worked at Halliburton, they had a zero tolerance for DUI's. Get one and get fired. Didn't matter who you were. The senior well engineer where I worked got fired after getting a DUI.

Also, anyone who possesses a CDL (Commercial Driver's License) can not blow even a .001 and retain his/her license. Federal DOT guidelines have a "zero tolerance" on drinking and driving, so even if a CDL holder blew a ".072" in a regular automobile, he/she would lose their right to drive a commercial vehicle.

 

Yes it is enough as it counts as yet another run in with the law, something of which Tank said publicly HE WOULD NOT DO.

 

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Shamrock again."

 

One of the reports said he was "speeding and driving erratically." That is enough to take him in for a breath test (probably refused) or a blood test to check BAC.

What am I sugar coating? All of you that think it's okay to speed in a 25 zone and believe that barely being under the legal limit for alcohol are the ones sugar coating the actions of Tank Johnson.

If I was in his shoes, I wouldn't had been drinking and driving. If I wanted to drink, I would have done it at home, or find a designated driver. There is no way I would put myself in a position to get fired.

Tank Johnson made the choice to disregard the zero tolerance conditions he was under to retain employment. It's not just a "speeding ticket" but the fact that he WAS drinking and driving. It didn't matter whether he was legally drunk or not because of the conditions of his employment based on his past actions.

It was the final straw for the Bears, and they were correct, and within their right, to release a player that didn't know how to avoid trouble.

 

The Bears took a stance on Tank's behavior & he put himself into a situation that opened him up for their policy to be applied. That's the simple part.

What I have a problem with is the do-gooders on here who act as if they've never driven a car with a BAC close to or over the limit. Is it safe? No, but most of us have done it.

40 in a 25? Again, not safe behavior. But I'll gladly kiss the a** of anyone here who hasn't been guilty of speeding, regardless of the posted limit or whether actually caught. :winkiss:

Tank's cumulative actions got him canned. He doesn't appear to be exhibiting very good judgment & that would prevent me from wanting to see him in a Chargers uni.

I'm not going to judge or persecute the guy for this incident. He screwed up in the eyes of the Bears organization. He's paying the price.

:icon_beer: