Talib Might Be Immune To Goodell’s Wrath
May 4th, 2012
An intriguing nugget has emerged from the NFL Players Association grievance filings in protest of Roger Goodell’s punishment of Saints players involved in the BountyGate scandal.
Creator, curator and guru of ProFootballTalk.com, Mike Florio, has obtained copies of the grievances and says the labor union is claiming the NFL agreed to not punish players for actions prior to August 2011, therefore Saints players should have amnesty.
Whoa! Aqib Talib’s alleged Wild West gunslinging antics in Texas occured more than one year ago. So is he immune from Goodell’s wrath?
In one grievance, filed under Article 43 of the labor deal, the union initially argues that Goodell lacks the authority to discipline players for conduct occurring before August 4, 2011, the date on which the current CBA was finalized. The grievance cites language releasing all players from conduct in which the players engaged before August 4, 2011
Essentially, the NFLPA is trying to take punitive power away from Goodell in BountyGate.
There’s possibly lots of gray area here. But one has to think Talib might very well be off the league’s radar as it relates to punishment for his Texas acts.
There’s always a chance, though, that Talib could say something at trial, or as part of a plea agreement, that could lead Goodell to suspend him.
May 4th, 2012 at 12:19 pm
I hope Talib makes it and I hope he goes along with the Schiano order but I have my doubts about his ability to take discipline and this will probably be his last year as a Buc without a major change of attitude. Next year we could be going after Tyrann Mathieu (Honey Badger) in the draft. He would fit right into that tough guy mold Schiano is looking for.
May 4th, 2012 at 12:22 pm
Talib was one of the eight players left out to dry by the new CBA, so that rule doesn’t apply to him.
May 4th, 2012 at 12:32 pm
Bobby, I partly agree with you. I think he would be a great addition to the team next year, and definitely fits the mold. He is tiny though. Listed as 5’9″ so he is probably smaller than that, so I highly doubt despite his insane talent that he goes top 10. I expect us to be picking between 10-20, and we all know how active teams can be with trades now.
I wouldn’t be surprised with Dominik’s “I look to next year’s draft” mentality if Honey Badger is the guy he is targeting. If Talib keeps his act together, (which call me crazy, I think he will with someone actually bringing discipline to the table) I wouldn’t be opposed to resigning him to a short-term deal (1-2 years max) and pairing the two of them together.
May 4th, 2012 at 12:46 pm
i sure hope so, we need the terrorist out there!!!
May 4th, 2012 at 1:09 pm
Mathieu isn’t really that great of a corner imo. I hope he isn’t our target next year unless he improves a lot. I know he’s a fan favorite, but I just don’t think he’s that great.
May 4th, 2012 at 1:18 pm
Joe has deleted the opening insult and misrepresentation of Joe. –Joe
Talib, unlike Vilma and co, was one of 8 players specifically identified in the new CBA as it being agreed between both parties that Goodell can discipline for lockout/pre-CBA misconduct.
Further, the NFL’s position is the NFLPA expressly stipulated to Goodell retaining authority for pre-CBA “off-field” misconduct, but not on-field.
Vilma and co. can argue that the bounty-hits were on field and thus Goodell did not retain that authority in new CBA. Obviously Talib’s misconduct was not on the field – unless he intends to make the argument that as a thug the streets are truly his “field.” Which is true but self-defeating.
Talib’s ONLY hope is “not guilty.” or bye-bye Taliban (cite:Captain Tim)
May 4th, 2012 at 1:20 pm
Lawyered!
May 4th, 2012 at 1:24 pm
Thomas, it’s nice to see that you’ve obtained copies of the NFLPA labor agreement. SMDH
Nobody knows what’s actually true.
May 4th, 2012 at 1:33 pm
Fin, anyone can look at the CBA…..
https://www.nflplayers.com/about-us/CBA-Download/
May 4th, 2012 at 1:34 pm
Even I’d Goodell can’t punish Talib, he still faces possible jail time, so let’s nit get too excited.
May 4th, 2012 at 1:35 pm
I meant if not I’d!
May 4th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
But to that end, I challenge Thomas cite the page number where these 8 players are identified.
May 4th, 2012 at 1:52 pm
Nice link. Searched the document and there’s no mention of Talib there Thomas 2.2.
May 4th, 2012 at 1:53 pm
Big picture:
The unreliable source, the Associated Press, reported that both the NFL and NFLPA signed a side agreement that was made binding by the CBA that 25 named players would NOT be disciplined but 8 were by agreement subject to Goodell’s power.
Many sources have identified the list of 8 which included Talib and Kenny Britt, Ced Benson and others.
Joe,
I dont know what the insult is. I was just identifying that these Talib stories all slant in Talib’s favor and against his victims. Are you trying to say that you dont have a bias toward repeatedly believing that Talib is innocent and that numerous people are making up stories about him?
**Thomas, Joe’s archives tell another story, especially early and through the case of Talib and the cab driver. Joe takes it one incident at a time without bias. As for the Associated Press or Yahoo, that’s all very nice. Except we still don’t know the facts, and having worked in the news business, Joe knows that local newspapers and national outlets make mistakes daily. Regardless, Joe stands by what’s written in this post, which is very clear. –Joe
May 4th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Meh,
The CB to watch is David Amerson – NC State, 6-2, 193
It’s rare to have a CB actually have more interceptions than pass breakups over the course of the year, but that’s what Amerson had in 2011 after leading the nation with an amazing 13 picks and just five passes batted away.
Amerson returned those 13 interceptions for 205 yards and two touchdowns. He had four games with two interceptions in 2011, including two crucial picks in the Wolfpack’s bowl win over Louisville. Amerson also recorded 59 tackles last year as a sophmore. I assume he will come out as a junior.
Player assessment as reported by Pewter Report.
May 4th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
NFLPA = laugh factory
May 4th, 2012 at 3:29 pm
Joe-
I always enjoy reading what you write. Even more, I love it when you confront Thomas 2.2 with the facts and the conflict it creates.
Keep up the excellent work on both accounts.
May 4th, 2012 at 5:46 pm
Sure…this columnist could be wrong and said letter not exist plus there’s the added feature that it would blow Joe’s theory out the window so we’ll want to dismiss it no matter what however. Also, considering this same report was universally put out there as being factual in nature, it’s possible that even Joe, as discriminating as he can be, might want to face the fact that he is probably wrong but so be it:
http://politic365.com/2011/10/02/nfl-stings-players-even-during-lockout/
“An earlier report stated that after the new collective bargaining agreement was ratified no players who had legal issues during the lockout would be disciplined. However, Yahoo Sports obtained a letter dated August 4 (the day after the lockout) that shows the NFLPA and NFL came to an agreement on eight players, deeming them eligible to be disciplined under the personal conduct policy.
Two players on the list, Kenny Britt and Squib Talib, met with Goodell last month and were not disciplined.”
May 4th, 2012 at 6:00 pm
Joe here,
@izzibits – What’s with the attitude? Joe’s not dismissing anything.
There is gray area here as Joe wrote in the post. There’s a potential legal mess of the NFLPA not having the right to sell Talib down the river, if in fact they did. Also, Joe has spoken to employment lawyers about Talib’s recourse if he’s punished for acts during the lockout. He definitely has a case. What’s clear is that nothing is clear. All Joe wrote is that Talib might be immune, an angle off fresh news of the day. That’s sort of what Joe does all day long.
May 4th, 2012 at 6:31 pm
Nice try Joe.
The whole theory of what you wrote is:
Since the NFLPA is challenging Goodell’s right to discipline Vilma and co for pre-cba conduct then Talib may likewise be immune.
This conclusion is a complete fallacy because your analysis is woefully incomplete. Vilma and company were not a part of the 8 players that Talib’s union agreed could be disciplined for pre-cba misconduct Talib was/is.
The NFLPA would never challenge Goodell’s right to discipline Talib or the 7 others bc there could be major ramifications if that would be considered a breach of the CBA. A court ruling in Vilma’s favor will not control Goodell’s power to discipline Talib bc of the agreement.
The Talib and Vilma and co situations are complete apples and oranges situations bc of the agreement on the 8 players.
Sure Talib could sue his Union or withdraw for the Union screwing him but that would be career suicide. I think that a lawsuit against the NFL may be dismissed on the grounds that the contract between Talib’s Union and the NFL is binding. Talib’s cause of action may be limited to a suit vs his Union.
This will all be moot if/when Talib is convicted in Texas.
May 4th, 2012 at 6:37 pm
Joe,
We know that you always see a lot of gray area when it comes to Talib; however, the undeniable pattern of misconduct that constitutes Talib’s last decade erases all gray and makes the picture crystal clear:
Talib will, and should be, be disciplined by the State of Texas, the NFL or both. And of he defies all odds again and slips away – in the end it will be worse for some family, Talib and whichever community he ends up in – hopefully not ours.
May 5th, 2012 at 1:47 am
Talib’s walking in Texas, if anything those jurors might think he’s some kind of hero for chasing off a woman beating child molesting pervert and rescuing his poor sister. None of this mess would’ve ever happened if Mama Talib didn’t show up popping shots. Talib is innocent and will grow up to be a “Buccaneer Man” you might as well start supporting the kid if Schiano likes him (which appears to be the case).
May 5th, 2012 at 9:19 am
@FreemanBomb5 Dam tootin. Pin a medal on the mans chest and drop all the 2.2 crazy talk.
May 9th, 2012 at 11:29 am
Those who argue for The Honey Badger over Talib are complete idiots. We don’t even know if the Honey Badger will be able to play CB in the NFL well. Aqib Talib has proven that he can be a shutdown #1 corner. He held Greg Jennings to 2 catches for 6 yards. I agree with @FreemanBomb5 that if Schiano already has his back, we need to support Talib. All I see online is people trashing Talib for his off field issues, but no one praises his performance in 2010, and he was playing on a bad hamstring last year, and was still light years better than any other corner on our roster. I would hate to see him be a shutdown corner for another team. Keep Talib in Tampa!