Columns

Let Tank play, but be honest about it

He is loose today on the streets of South Florida, and no one seems frightened in Coconut Grove.

By JOHN ROMANO
Published January 29, 2007

MIAMI

He is loose today on the streets of South Florida, and no one seems frightened in Coconut Grove. After all, what's so scary about an attack-dog-loving, gun-toting, probation-busting D-lineman during Super Bowl week?

So, no, I guess the decision to allow Tank Johnson to play for the Bears in the world's grandest football game has not constituted a threat to public safety.

Just to honesty.

And, if you want to go all high-minded, maybe integrity, too.

If you haven't been paying attention to the NFL's latest episode of Law and Disorder, Johnson is the guy who leads the conference in bail bondsmen.

Arrested in 2005 for unlawfully toting a gun and again in 2006 for aggravated assault and resisting arrest, Johnson returned to more comfortable territory last month when he was cuffed once more for stashing a small arsenal in his home.

Now you have to know the Bears were horrified by this behavior. By this recklessness. Mostly, by these headlines.

The team drew an imaginary line in the sand and warned Johnson not to cross it. Then, oh, 36 hours after his latest arrest, Johnson skipped over the line and showed up at a nightclub where his bodyguard was gunned down in a scuffle.

The fight allegedly began because the gunman kept bumping into Johnson on the dance floor.

So after all the arrests, after all the mayhem, after all the warnings, the Bears finally rid themselves of Tank. For one regular-season game. Then they welcomed him back with open arms and an airline ticket to Miami.

Which brings us to today's debate:

Should the Bears have kept Johnson on the roster? Should they have ignored the moral implications? Should they have set this frightening precedent?

I say yes.

And not because Johnson deserves a chance to win a Super Bowl. And not because he has not been convicted of the latest charges.

If I was running the Bears, I would have kept Johnson on the roster because his teammates deserve the best chance possible of winning the Super Bowl. And the fans in Chicago deserve that opportunity, too.

So, yes, I probably would have made the same decision. I just hope I would have been a little more honest about it than the Bears have been.

Team officials have pretended that football played no role in their decision. That it was based on their love of Tank and their belief that the 25-year-old nose tackle can turn his life around.

The Bears would have you believe he's just a mixed-up kid. No different, really, from any of your neighbors. That he puts his holsters on one leg at a time.

This, in legal parlance, is known as bull.

The Bears had lost one defensive lineman to injury, and they gave up 31 points to Tim Rattay and the Bucs when Johnson sat out his one-game suspension.

They knew their chances of getting to the Super Bowl would be severely impacted if Johnson was not in the lineup, and so they decided to keep him.

Why not acknowledge that?

Why not say Johnson's behavior was unacceptable and that he will not be a member of the organization next season but, for the sake of all the decent, hard-working players in the locker room and all the fans who have waited 21 years for a Super Bowl, he would remain on the roster through February?

Say that the decision would be different if he had been accused of a violent offense such as domestic abuse. Say that you made a mistake in trusting him and other players should pay heed to what it will eventually cost Johnson.

Just don't tell me he's a good guy who has run into a few problems. Being jovial in the locker room doesn't make you a wonderful person.

The truth is Johnson has some warped values and a sense of entitlement that is dangerously out of control. And the Bears have always known it.

A Chicago newspaper reported police had been called to his home 30 times in two years. The Dec. 14 raid was prompted by complaints from neighbors about gunfire, marijuana smoke and the neglect of three pit bulls.

Maybe I'm a girly man, but after the first 29 visits from the police, I would have dumped the guns and packed up the bong. But that's just me.

The Bears say Johnson has made a commitment to turn his life around. That's something I would have expected after his first conviction on gun charges.

Yet he never verified that he underwent drug and alcohol evaluation, as his probation required. And though sentenced to 40 hours of community service, he has completed less than 10 hours in 14 months. And then, oh, yeah, he bought another half-dozen unregistered guns.

In other words, we're not dealing with a guy who has an acute sense of remorse. No, we're just dealing with a jerk.

Perhaps, one day, this jerk will actually grow up to be someone worth admiring. Or maybe he'll just learn to obey the law. But, for now, he has only one desirable trait: the ability to play football.

I just wish the Bears would admit that.

John Romano can be reached at (727) 893-8811.

[Last modified January 29, 2007, 06:01:15]