Bears Waive DT Tank Johnson

The Chicago Bears Defensive Tackle Tank Johnson might have put the proverbial final nail in the coffin on his troubled--but what had the potential to be a promising--NFL career. Johnson had already been suspended for the first eight games of the upcoming NFL season for previous incidents with law enforcement. The details of Johnson's trouble with law enforcement officials are detailed in an ESPN.com news services article.

Johnson was originally drafted by the Bears with the 15 pick in the second round of the 2004 NFL draft.

The last straw came for Johnson this past Friday when he was pulled over for speeding in Arizona. Johnson was pulled over for doing 40 MPH in a 25 MPH zone at 3:30 in the morning on Friday, June 22. The police officer who stopped Johnson observed him to be acting in such a manner that made the officer believe that Johnson was impaired. Johnson was arrested for "DUI impaired to the slightest degree."

Johnson was taken to the Gilbert Police station, a suburb of Phoenix. Officials there had blood draw from Johnson for a blood alcohol content test. The results of the test will take approximately two weeks to determine. Johnson was eventually released without being booked or charged, but that could change based on the results of the blood test.

Johnson's trouble with police started in 2005 when he was arrested for having a handgun in his SUV. A valet of a Chicago nightclub where Johnson was at reported the gun to Police. Johnson pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to probation. He was in violation of his probation this past December when police raided his suburban Chicago home and found six unregistered handguns. Johnson was eventually sentence to two months in Jail.

The Chicago Bears had enough of Johnson's antics and decided to waive him after this last incident. A statement made by the Bears' General Manager, Jerry Angelo, said "We are upset and embarrassed by Tank's actions last week, he compromised the credibility of our organization. We made it clear to him that he had no room for error. Our goal was to help someone through a difficult period in his life, but the effort needs to come from both sides. It didn't and we have decided to move on." as quoted by espn.com.

Espn.com also provided the following quotes. "A lot of people within our organization gave extra time and energy to support Tank -- players, coaches and our front office," Coach Lovie Smith said Monday. "We did our best to establish an environment for him to move forward. Ultimately Tank needed to live up to his side of the deal."

At this point it is unlikely that any other NFL franchise will take a chance on Johnson and claim him off of waivers. If he is not claimed off of waivers, he will eventually become a free agent. However, with all of his off field issues, he may ultimately have a hard time finding another NFL team interested in his services.

Source:
ESPN.com news services. Bears decide to move on, waive Tank Johnson. June 25, 2007. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2916083. Retrieved June 25, 2007.