Eric Wright And His Trail Of Trouble
November 1st, 2012
The Bucs have the unflattering notoriety of having their starting two cornerbacks, Aqib Talib and Eric Wright, in trouble with Adderall, a banned substance in NFL circles.
While Talib admitted he tested positive for Adderall, Wright has not been as forthcoming. FOX NFL insider Jay Glazer reported Sunday that Wright, too, tested positive for Adderall. Wright, not surprisingly, has been quiet and kept at arm’s length from probing reporters. And while Bucs officials are under the cloak of player confidentiality and deflect drug-related questions about Wright, not one Bucs official or NFL spokesman has denied Glazer’s report.
Alan Dell absorbs all of this information and is seething. The Bradenton Herald columnist documents Wright’s troubled past with felony charges, alleged pill possessions and indirect links between Wright’s former teammates and their brushes with Adderall as well.
Dell wonders aloud why Talib is crucified by Bucs fans while Wright is seemingly given a pass.
It seemed everybody wanted to run Talib out of town when he was recently suspended for taking Adderall, a substance the NFL bans, citing it as a performance-enhancing drug. For a player to take it, he must get a doctor’s prescription and then a waiver from the league.
Talib got neither.
He is not known for making wise decisions and to keep him out of trouble, you want to surround him with people who will look out for his best interests, which brings us back to Wright.
Dell goes on to write that Wright is a quesitonable influence around the young Bucs roster.
It is an interesting theory of Dell’s. One could argue that Wright’s past makes Talib’s indiscretions pale by comparison. Many of Talib’s steps over the line just weren’t smart moves.
Wright’s brushes with the law seem a bit more sinister.
As to why Bucs fans may be giving Wright a pass, Wright has only been around the Tampa Bay area a few months. Sure, there was the California collision this summer, with charges dropped, so the positive test for Adderall (allegedly) is his first offense as a Bucs player.
Talib averages an annual indiscretion.
In short, Dell’s piece is worth reading.
November 1st, 2012 at 8:19 am
I don’t think Wright is getting a pass. I have seen a lot of message boards asking about the repercussions for cutting Wright at the end of the season.
November 1st, 2012 at 8:32 am
The person who should be front and center is Dominick. He’s the one that seems to continue to make one bad move after another and seems to not come under any scrutiny. I for one think its time to bring in a real GM to get this team to the next level.
November 1st, 2012 at 8:41 am
I agree with mainebuc. Who has given him a pass?
November 1st, 2012 at 8:42 am
Like most of the moves Dominik has made lately, but the Wright one may come back to haunt him. He’s been after Wright the last two years, even referring to him as “my guy” a few times during the intro press conference. For the most part Wright has done a decent job at CB with the Bucs, and his interception return against the Giants was one of the best in awhile. Curious to see how it all plays out. As previously mentioned, the team will definitely get to see just how talented the DB depth is the rest of the season.
November 1st, 2012 at 8:43 am
Joe, if he is suspended, how does it effect his no cut bonus, does it have a cancellation clause for being suspended by the league for cause? Because if it does, they should exercise it. He is not worth the money or trouble and all he needs to do is to convince one of the young troopers to go with him out west and get into trouble.
Your thoughts?
November 1st, 2012 at 8:45 am
Along with the OL, which is a whole other story.
November 1st, 2012 at 8:48 am
@Brad Ya, we should fire Dominick. What was he thinking signing Vincent Jackson (who hasn’t dropped a pass) and Carl Nicks? Why would he consider drafting Mark Barron, Doug Martin, Josh Freeman, Mike Williams, Gerald McCoy, Roy Miller and then picking up LeGarrette Blount off a practice squad? You know what. He really should be fired for letting Kellen Winslow, Brian Price and Tanard Jackson go. I mean he let the unemployment line steal them from us!
November 1st, 2012 at 8:52 am
Wright was a horrible signing. Nobody is giving him a pass.
November 1st, 2012 at 9:09 am
“Here is what we know about the 27-year-old: In 2005 while at USC, Wright faced three sexual assault charges, according to the Los Angeles district attorney’s office, which also said it found 136 Ecstasy pills in his apartment.
The district attorney’s office said the alleged victim was unwilling to testify, and without her testimony it would be difficult to prove the drugs belonged to Wright. The district attorney decided not to file charges.”
Charming!
November 1st, 2012 at 9:33 am
I never liked this signing. Not for the amount of money they gave him. I thought it was a desperation move.
November 1st, 2012 at 9:37 am
Nick:
It was, and Joe never had a problem with it.
Think about it: You were a rotten team in desperate (no argument there) need of a corner with a new college coach coming in. Not many corners (the divas of the defense) are going to jump at that, um, opportunity, so yeah, Dominik had to overpay in order to get someone in.
Joe understands. Think about it, would you rather Dominik over pay for Wright, or save cash and start Myron Lewis?
November 1st, 2012 at 9:44 am
@Joe, I don’t remember his contract but doesn’t Dominick have a policy of not giving up guaranteed contracts plus front-loading them? Therefore, we overpaid this year but have no risk of dropping him next (if we get lucky in the draft and pick up an amazingly talented cb)?
November 1st, 2012 at 10:02 am
The logic employed here is flawed.
We need to get rid of them both.
First, Talib does not deserve a pass. The fact he is still in a Buc uniform is completely on Dom. He was a complete loser when drafted and nothing has changed.
As for Wright, if his contract does not provide the Bucs with out for banned substance violations, then Dom is a fool. His history was well known too.
Ironic it is that Dom’s 3rd round bust, the sober, and hapless, Myron Lewis is still taking up a roster spot.
November 1st, 2012 at 10:04 am
Miracle:
Joe isn’t privy to the exact details of Eric Wright’s contract, sorry.
November 1st, 2012 at 10:56 am
Very good point from Dell. So many idiots want to get rid of Talib who at least flashes like a very good CB sometimes. Wright on the other hand is a BIG TIME SCRUB that cannot cover and also has character issues.
Can his rear first and then we will talk about Talib. Dominik and his FA gems, even the year he had found 2 great contributors, he had to get that signature scrub FA he signs every year.
November 1st, 2012 at 12:48 pm
@Joe
“In short, Dell’s piece is worth reading.”
No. It’s not. It’s a hit piece with very shoddy reporting if one wishes to call it that.
Case in point…
“He reportedly refused to sumbit to a Breathalyzer or field sobriety test and eventually the district attorney decided not to file formal charges.”
The initial news reports were wrong (what a shocker). Wright willingly went to the police station and submitted to the more accurate testing there… The results were such that it wasn’t a case of the DA “DECIDING” but the evidence showing numerically that he was not driving while intoxicated.
YOU should know that. And YOU should be calling out a shoddy writer.
So the DUI nonsense shouldn’t be brought up at all. Same goes for the other nonsense.
Honors student in High School. Honors student at UNLV. Yeah – a real troubled PROVABLE past.
“not one Bucs official or NFL spokesman has denied Glazer’s report.” They CANNOT comment on player issues in this regard to confirm OR deny.
How about real football writing on how Tampa will shuffle players to replace Wright? It’s not just a matter of plugging one CB in for another? Who covers the slot on pass plays? Can Johnson play well on the other side of the field? Or will Johnson stay in Talib’s spot and Talib moves to cover Wright’s?
November 1st, 2012 at 12:54 pm
Facts:
Joe can assure you if Glazer was wrong, it would have been minutes, not hours, for the Bucs to respond how Glazer’s report was erroneous.
Case in point: A few years ago, there was a wrong report — on the Dan Sileo Show of all places, if you can imagine — that Tanard Jackson had failed a urine test. Within 15 minutes Joe received an email from the Bucs flatly, strongly denying Jackson had failed any such test.
(Ironically, about three weeks later, Jackson did fail a test.)
Whenever a Bucs player is wrongly accused of something as serious as a test result, the Bucs — if not the NFL’s — spokespeople jump into overdrive.
In Wright’s case, not one Bucs (or NFL) employee, on or off the record, has even suggested Glazer was off the mark.
Add to the fact Joe cannot remember Glazer being wrong on a scoop, it speaks for itself.
November 1st, 2012 at 1:12 pm
(Other) Joe here,
@FactsMatter – First, Dell is a columnist. Does Joe think Dell is out there on some of these connections in the story. Sure. But it’s still worth reading, which, of course, is Joe’s opinion.
Also, one can be driving while intoxicated and pass a test at a police station. The two are HARDLY connected with certainty in the eyes of the law. That’s why there are field tests, drug tests, etc.
Unless you’ve seen the police affidavits, it’s going to be very hard for you (like Dell or anyone) to claim with certainty what Wright did or did not do at the scene. And to say with certainty that a test is more accurate at a later time at a police station versus at a scene, is a very difficult assertion.
If “Facts Matter,” which is your name, then you should be more careful with them.
Joe was simply linking to a story he found interesting. It doesn’t go much further than that.
November 1st, 2012 at 1:24 pm
@Facts Matter are you Wright’s agent? Interesting how you brought up his education background and sarcastically commented that he was troubled. It seems like you glossed over the part where he went to USC and left for UNLV amid rape charges. Can you prove that that never happened?
http://www.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stories/060205aaj.html
A simple google search can accomplish a lot in the 21st century.
November 1st, 2012 at 1:38 pm
There never has, is nor will be any thing written by Alan Dell that is worth reading.
November 1st, 2012 at 5:00 pm
Talib said that ‘someone’ gave him the pill.
Wright gave him the pill!!
When he was as USC, he was caught selling ecstasy or sth like that.
Wright needs to get his sh** together real quick.