Report: Four-Game Suspension Looming For Talib
August 26th, 2011
Joe’s not big on anonymous sources, so take this from Yahoo! Sports as you will.
Jason Cole of Yahoo! says three sources “familiar with the situation” of Roger Goodell yearning to punish Aqib Talib are telling him that Talib will get a four-game suspension to open the 2011 season. The story is here, delivered by the good folks at ProFootballTalk.com.
Again, Joe’s not big on anonymous sources for major stories. Months ago, Joe remembers reading in the St. Pete Times about how the Bucs had decided to dump Talib after the asinine lockout ended. Uhh, that didn’t happen.
From the public record details of Talib’s assault with a deadly weapon case, Joe gets that hypocrite Goodell might be incensed that Talib didn’t call 911 before heading to his sister’s house to confront trouble. Joe gets that Goodell might be miffed that a police summary claims Talib wasn’t 100 percent truthful to police and apologized for a comment during questioning.
But beyond that, Joe can’t get why Goodell would want to drop a four-game hammer on Talib and the Bucs before all the facts of the case are known. Is the man’s ego and power trip that big?
Why not two games now and reserve the right for additional suspension time after the facts are out?
What really happened at Talib’s sister’s house in Texas is sketchy at best, and it was a sad family situation, not a night at a strip club gone bad or a sleazy event that bristles league feathers. Why Goodell is in such a hurry, if he’s really in a hurry, is a bigger myster than what happened in Texas.
August 26th, 2011 at 9:08 pm
Should have cut him and spent a little money on an insurance policy. What would have been wrong with, for example, jonathon Joseph on the roster with Talib free to deal with his issues?
Now you start the year with ronde, biggers and Mack. Against megaton? I had the bucs a virtual lock to win the home opener against the lie-downs. Now, I may move Calvin Johnson way up in my fantasy draft.
August 26th, 2011 at 9:15 pm
I don’t understand it either. Does he suspend him now because he was charged and then suspend him again if convicted?
Or what if he suspends him now, and then Talib gets exonerated due to some evidence that we haven’t seen yet.
Is there precedent to either of those?
Just the fact that Goodell is free to do whatever he wants here shows how much the NFLPA dropped the ball.
August 26th, 2011 at 9:15 pm
Talib being suspended is no big deal. Rah can’t call a defense anyway.
August 26th, 2011 at 9:29 pm
Done making excuses Joe for this guy…he deserves whatever punishment he receives from the league, he is one of the few bad apples that give the NFL a bad name.
I hope he learns his lesson, but If I was a betting man, I would say we have not heard the last of Talib’s name in trouble.
August 26th, 2011 at 9:43 pm
This is a doable setback, not unexpected and not the end of the world due to the progress Biggers and Lewis made last season after Talib went down.
I’m glad we kept Talib though and will welcome him back after his suspension.
Hopefully this is the last of his mistakes. It has to be his last chance here.
Going to the game tomorrow night and really looking forward to it. But the REAL deal is two weeks from Sunday, 9/11 2011. Bring on the Lions!
August 26th, 2011 at 9:53 pm
Only problem I have with this, is if several months down the road Talib is found innocent. What then?
August 26th, 2011 at 10:02 pm
Not sure why this would surprise anybody. Perception is far more important than reality (whatever that may be in this case) in the NFL offices. When you suspend people based on perception, you don’t have to wait for the legal process to run its course. Whether he is guilty or innocent is irrelevant.
August 26th, 2011 at 10:06 pm
Goodell is an egomaniac run amok. I wouldn’t read too much logic into his erratic actions.
August 26th, 2011 at 10:06 pm
2.2: who the hell is megaton? Deuce Lutui? Bryant McKinnie? Langston Walker?
August 26th, 2011 at 10:09 pm
Oh, by the way…Kool Aid tastes a hell of a lot better than Haterade. You feel me? Nah…haters just keep on hatin’.
August 26th, 2011 at 10:13 pm
Joe here,
@StevefromOregon — Nobody’s questioning that Talib is a bad apple, but at least to see what happened. There’s no video here for Goodell to review. No hard evidence.
August 26th, 2011 at 10:22 pm
Jason Cole is a rock star !!! Yahoo!
August 26th, 2011 at 10:31 pm
I liked Goodell at first, but he is fundamentally changing the game of football with all these new rules regarding tackling too rough and making kickoffs obsolete. Talib is a dick and I’m not denying that, but look at the actual affadavit. There is nothing there to incriminate Talib besides a felon’s account of the situation. I think these charges will be ultimately dropped and hopefully Talib sues the NFL (and wins)! Goodell is a power-hungry dick! I miss Tagliabue.
August 26th, 2011 at 11:03 pm
Roger Goodell doesn’t care about Buccaneer People.
August 26th, 2011 at 11:22 pm
jim carrey in liar liar, “quite breakin the law, a–hole!” whatever talib gets out of this i’m sure he’s earned, however the league really needs to wait until the court system goes through with what they’re going to do.
August 26th, 2011 at 11:34 pm
If Talib sues he’ll win. No court will hold that suspension.
August 26th, 2011 at 11:57 pm
Just wait, Talib will be suspended and later found not guilty. I hope he sues Goodell’s a$$ if that happens.
August 27th, 2011 at 12:00 am
Calvin Johnson, Roddy White, and Reggie Wayne in the first 4 weeks. Good luck with that.
August 27th, 2011 at 12:40 am
The cat that said Rah can’t call a defense, what the hell do you know about calling defenses? Or at an NFL level for that matter? You have no clue what you’re talking about.
August 27th, 2011 at 5:03 am
Another slap on the wrist. This isn’t enough to deter him!!!
August 27th, 2011 at 7:06 am
forget his play, we might lose 4 weeks of quality Talib sound bites! FREE OKOLO!
August 27th, 2011 at 7:08 am
“Roger Goodell yearning to punish Aqib Talib”
That right there says everything that is wrong with the chump in charge.
The commissioners should not be yearning to punish anyone, they should be disappointed that they have to. GODell seems to get some sort of perverse pleasure out of punishing players, it’s as if he’s tryting to get revenge for his childhood self who was bullied by the jocks.
He doesn’t care what the fact are (if he did he would wait to rule on Talib), he takes pleasure in punishing, he and he alone is judge, jury and executioner. The guy has to go. Somehow he has made himself one of the faces of the league which is stupid.
August 27th, 2011 at 7:41 am
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the players’ union file a lawsuit contending Goodell had no authority to discipline players’ actions during a lockout even though the union supposedly agreed to have certain players eligible for discipline. This has legal ramifications far beyond Talib’s situation. Goodell had better be very careful, particularly when the case hasn’t even be tried.
August 27th, 2011 at 8:15 am
“What really happened at Talib’s sister’s house in Texas is sketchy at best, and it was a sad family situation, not a night at a strip club gone bad or a sleazy event that bristles league feathers. Why Goodell is in such a hurry, if he’s really in a hurry, is a bigger myster than what happened in Texas.”
You could have spun this into something nasty. Thank you for not. Pure class, Joe. Thank you.
August 27th, 2011 at 8:22 am
Whatever his suspension is, assuming he gets a sentence the warden, the real issue for the Bucs is the next time Talib runs into trouble. Not only could he lose a full season but the Bucs will have no choice but to part ways. Plus since 2there is conduct language with the threat that teams can be penalized draft picks for reoccurring off field player issues, something our frugal philosophy cannot afford. The warden
August 27th, 2011 at 8:26 am
It still tickles me that Thomas disappeared after Hawaiian Buc pulled past statements. Yet, just like H-Buc said, Thomas shows up in the next article.
Even funnier, I was actually giving some credence to Eric’s comments…. Then Joe destroyed him with facts about RahmDom’s preseason gameplan, and Eric disappeared quick.
I just don’t get it. If those two are fans, WTF?!?! It totally makes sense to me now when BigMac talks about racism. I don’t ever want to go there, but there is literally no other option at this point. They just don’t like them because…….
August 27th, 2011 at 8:27 am
Whatever his suspension is, assuming he gets a sentence the warden, the real issue for the Bucs is the next time Talib runs into trouble. Not only could he lose a full season but the Bucs will have no choice but to part ways. Plus since 2007 there has been conduct language with the threat that teams can be penalized draft picks for reoccurring off field player issues, something our frugal philosophy cannot afford. The warden has yet to snatch picks or the Bengals would not have had a draft a couple of years ago but with his new found powers teams should be on notice.
August 27th, 2011 at 8:56 am
Mauha Deeb- if you wanted to move a team, one way is to prove the area has suffered” longterm Economic impact” . This a clause that proves the areas economy has taken a downturn, and has deteriorated since the team was awarded to said area.
Among tons of Fiancial documents, team support is also proof.
How do you do that? Having a winning team, that doesn’t sellout for several consecutive years. How would someone deliberately plan to do that?
A Black head coach, Star QB, all all prominent team players in a racist environment. Juuuust a thought. I think the league would like to relocate the Bucs. I mentioned this last year. Just something to think about.
August 27th, 2011 at 9:01 am
@Capt.Tim ?????????
August 27th, 2011 at 9:44 am
Guilty before proven innocent?
August 27th, 2011 at 10:18 am
Cmon capt Tim, racist environment? Tony Dungy is beloved in Tampa and rightfully so, yes, the team needed an offensive jolt to get us over the hump but he, Wyche (drafting sapp, Brooks and lynch) and Monte all contributed to the foundation.
Those of us who believe that rah should remain a good d backs coach only, would give a king’s ransom for Mike Tomlin (I know it’s a pipe dream). I have tremendous respect for Lovie Smith and think that Jim Caldwell would do a better job than rah rah. I wish that the bucs would have interviewed Caldwell or Leslie Frazier before hiring Rah Rah. They didn’t because the price was going to be too high with Gruden still being paid and rah rah agreed to take the job for d backs coach pay – reportedly less than George O’leary was being paid to coach UCF.
Bottom Line: I do not believe that the team would be in this Talib mess if someone else were the coach. If you are firm with Talib two years ago, maybe this doesn’t happen. If you replace him or have a comparable insurance policy, you are fine.
Biggers has proven he can’t touch Magatron. Lewis can’t cover me. I guess that we are left to hope that Stafford misses him or gets hurt – but even that didn’t help last year.
August 27th, 2011 at 10:27 am
As for the argument proposed by many that this suspension is illegal, I believe that it is. The only snafu to prevailing in court that I can see is the Demaurice Smith agreed to this as representative for the organization of which Talib is a member. It is very difficult to invalidate a contract on the basis of: “I gave my lawyer authorization to resolve my case globally but not that small detail.” I suspect that Demaurice Smith’s contract with the union provides him with broad authority to resolve conduct / suspension disputes.
However, if Talib’s misconduct happened while being locked out by his bosses when there was no effective cba, it is a stretch to think that there was any binding “conduct” clause that Talib could have violated.
The difficulty is that Talib will also have to sue his own Union and the NFL, and if they team up to present a case to the court that the players gave the authority to Smith to make this deal with the League and Talib supported it or consented to it – the court’s may not interfere with the Agreement.
Also, Talib’s history of problems will not make him a sympathetic figure in a court of law.
August 27th, 2011 at 10:31 am
I’m glad to have this behind us. Tanard and Talib will be back at roughly the same time for a huge welcome home party. The secondary wasn’t great, but played fine without Talib down the stretch last year. Manning will not be a factor this year, and as I recall, we were cutting Matt Ryan a new one until we had a special teams hiccup in the 4th quarter. I’m ready to move on!!
August 27th, 2011 at 10:31 am
“I do not believe that the team would be in this Talib mess if someone else were the coach” lolololololol Who drafted the kid???? So much funny in this guy.
August 27th, 2011 at 10:31 am
Actually a four game suspension would be less than I was expecting. I was thinking seven with a possibility for four if he kisses the commishes booty real hard like big ben had to do.
If the bucs have him for twelve games this year that would enhance their chances IMO.
He is a very important peiece of the puzzle. 15 INT’s in three seasons. Good argument he is the best player on the defense.
August 27th, 2011 at 10:37 am
Well if he is going to get suspended… 4 games is pretty light considering what it could be. MAybe the Bucs ARE better off with Goodell playing oppressive dictator before the courts rule. If Goodell waited until afterward and Talib ends up getting convicted of something, even a misdemeanor, then he might be inclined to hand out an even harsher suspension. If a 4 game suspension is the most that comes of this then I’d say the Bucs made out pretty good. I don’t ever think Talib can stop being an idiot but lets hope that after this he will learn to at least curb the worst of his tendencies.
August 27th, 2011 at 10:41 am
Muaha Deeb- Yeah this chump is hilarious. When you look at the guys who have been arrested or booted from the league for drugs, they were all drafted or signed by THomas buttbuddy Gruden. Talib, Jackson, Hayes, Stevens- all Gruden guys. This administration is still dealing with the fallout from Gruden’s bad drafting where even when the players turn out to be talented they end up being character liabilities.
August 27th, 2011 at 10:53 am
@BecklesHeartsRuud If only Cowher would have taken over everything would be gravy……
August 27th, 2011 at 10:54 am
#protecttheshield Goodell green lights the hiring of a sex offender by CBS to represent the NFL on TV during games, yet has the balls to suspend a player that has not been convicted of anything. It’s called integrity, the commish might want to look it up. And to all of you who are screaming for Talib to be cut (and you claim to be a lawyer) before any court has ruled on his case, every time you open your mouth you demonstrate the pedestrian level of your intelligence.
August 27th, 2011 at 11:09 am
Muaha Deeb- Right. Of course. Let’s see if Thomas has the patience to give Raheem Morris 15 years to win a Super Bowl like the Steelers gave Cowher. Oh wait Thomas had already made his mind up the moment he read the headline of Raheem’s hiring and no matter what Raheem ends up doing as a coach he clearly isn’t going to change it.
August 27th, 2011 at 11:28 am
Bring in Ditka!
August 27th, 2011 at 11:41 am
Not to mention history shows no coach winning the SB with two different teams.
August 27th, 2011 at 11:50 am
Cowher is overrated. Would’ve been another Gruden scenario here with perennial mediocrity and an unstable, always-aging roster. No thanks.
August 27th, 2011 at 11:58 am
Morris haters get used to it, because he’s going to be here for at least another 5 years and maybe a lot longer than that. Might as well sit back and get comfortable.
August 27th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
I don’t care who the head coach could have been, Talib would have been in this situation regardless. Whoever the coach is, he’s not a babysitter. To say that Talib wouldn’t be in this situation if someone else was coach, is a ludicrous statement and ignores any logic at all.
ONLY 4 games is a huge win imo for Talib. No matter what happened that fateful day, the facts are that shots were fired and Talib was there, no matter who fired them. Considering that, I’m glad he didn’t get 6, 8 or even a whole season.
Besides, Talib isn’t even fully recovered yet. This could be a blessing in disguise and allow him to get fully healed up.
August 27th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
I wouldn’t rush to say “only 4 games”. That could very well be his suspension by the NFL, we still don’t know if the Texas court system will suspend him for MUCH longer. Yeah, I know, most think he’s completely innocent of any wrongdoing, as if he were an innocent bystander watching the whole thing as shots were fired in a residential neighborhood, yet didn’t see a thing, doesn’t even know who fired shots. He’s really just a victim here. Dragged into this by a felon mother, a sister that makes bad decisions repeatedly, and an abusive boyfriend/common-law husband. If it weren’t for all of them, he’d be an angel. Just ask the cabbie… Enjoy the last 12 games of the season, as it might be the last time we see him for a few years.
August 27th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
just for reference… cowher was the head coach of Rothlisberger was he not?
and hines ward (who recently got introuble for dwi)
and who’s the linebacker?
yeah. cowher would have cleaned house real good… just like he did the steelers.
August 27th, 2011 at 2:57 pm
I can not believe the disregard for the ‘rule f law’ around here, especially from a lawyer like Eric. While I don’t WANT to defend Talib I have to defend the law in this situation.
When the incident with Talib occurred there was NO CBA. Talib was NOT an employee of the Bucs or the NFL, therefore anything that he did/did not do could NOT be subject to the rules of the NFL. Had there NOT been a lockout Goodell would be within his right to act as the moral cop of the NFL.
PERSONALLY, I would like to see the Bucs trade Talib and be done with his antics. HOWEVER, since he is part of the team and he has a case scheduled for March 2012 Goodell should just wait until such time as the facts become available. Any suspension from the NFL could possibly taint the jury when they assemble in March.
Unlike the incident with Mike Williams who was accused of driving while Black, I believe that Talib used poor judgement but until the legal case is judicated the NFL should stay the hell out of this matter.
August 27th, 2011 at 3:51 pm
All you Rah supporters should listen to what he said. According to him Talib has been a great leader and has grown up since being “in the building”. Rah is Talib’s “dog”. They love one another.
Rah wants the man on the team and Dom has supported the guy also. Same with Tanard, and Hayes, and they brought Stevens into camp too.
They have done what is usual for an NFL team, turn the other cheek when the guy is a great player. Same as the Roonies(big ben), and The Ravens (Ray Lewis). The list goes on and on. Chuckie would be doing the same thing.
All the “high character” crap from the current powers that be at one buc place is applied with convenience. (aka hypocricy)
Rah/Dom arent dumb enough to shoot themselves in the foot and cut the guy just to satisfy the holier than thou crowd. Good for them.
Now cut the “character” BS.
August 27th, 2011 at 4:51 pm
Eric- your right. Teams want “high character” guys but they wont turn away a great player for off the field stuff unless he is a “locker room cancer”. The problem I have is with certain dumbasses claiming that Rah is responsible for the off the field issues of guys that JOHN GRUDEN drafted knowing what kind of character they had. But the reality is that almost all NFL teams take a chance on a guy with questionable character at some point. The fact is that too many of the guys coming out in the draft every year have “character issues” for teams to ignore all of them unless they want to cut themselves off from a significant talent pool.
August 27th, 2011 at 5:15 pm
Gruden did not have more character issues than the norm for NFL teams.
Hardly “bengal like”
seven drafts and two problem children – Tanard and Talib?
Now, should Talib overcome this and becomes a pro-bowler, will Jon get any credit? Of course not.
All true bucs fans know its all Chuckies fault.
August 27th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
Eric- No. But all true Bucs fans know Chuckie wasn’t going churn this roster and rebuild this team for another real attempt at a SB run anytime soon. A rebuild, painful as its been at times, is what was needed. Where would we be with Chuckie right now? I imagine we would have traded some premium draft picks for Kevin freaking Kolb or something awesome like that.
August 27th, 2011 at 5:55 pm
So, now it’s ok for Talib to have done what he did because he was “not an employee” at the time. First off, he was an employee, a locked out employee. What’s the difference? A locked out employee is still employed but gets no pay and can’t come to work. The NFL never shut down, all teams were still operating. Second, who ever said you have to be employed by the NFL to be suspended? Terrell Pryor was hoping to be an NFL employee when he had indiscretions, yet he’s being suspended 4 games to start his career. You can even go so far as saying that all of these things are taking place on their personal time, so the NFL shouldn’t be able to do anything about it, but every employer has policies that concern “private” time indiscretions. Whether it’s drugs or illegal activity, most employers simply fire people for those things.
August 27th, 2011 at 6:47 pm
BamBam, not to mention I am sure it is in the new CBA language. These are smart business people that cover their rears.