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Legally over the line
Police report reveals Johnson was impaired enough to break the zero-tolerance level set by the Bears
July 11, 2007
BY GREG COUCH Sun-Times Columnist
Tank tried. He all but begged to just forget the whole thing. Standing on the street beside his Lexus, while officer Andrew Bates of the Gilbert, Ariz., police department conducted field sobriety tests on him, Terry ''Tank'' Johnson realized that his career with the Bears, his career in the NFL, was in trouble.
You know the finger-to-nose test? You stand there, eyes closed, feet together, arms at your sides, index fingers pointed, and touch your nose? Johnson couldn't do it. He couldn't touch his nose. He couldn't stand with his feet together.
''I observed his eyes were red, bloodshot and watery,'' Bates wrote in the incident/investigation report. ''He had a moderate odor of alcohol on his breath. He swayed in a circular motion approximately 1-2 inches while he stood in front of me.''
We already know that Johnson was pulled over shortly after 3 a.m. on June 22. More than an hour later, he agreed to a blood test. He came in barely under the legal limit for blood-alcohol content while driving. We found that out, though, after the Bears had cut him.
But we hadn't seen the report, the details, the officer's observations and Johnson's little weaseling act. The report shows Johnson was fully aware of the trouble he was in. He told police several times that he hadn't had any alcohol, though the blood test suggested otherwise. He said that within 24 hours of being pulled over, he had taken two Valium to help him sleep on a flight to Arizona.
I'm no expert, but I don't think you're supposed to mix Valium with alcohol with driving.
With zero tolerance.
If you believe the report, Tank told Bates he was a football player and tried several times to get the officer to let him go. Johnson went from stalling, to panicking, to this:
''Terry was very concerned about the effect of his arrest on his career,'' Bates said in the report. ''After the fingerprinting, Terry asked for an opportunity to meet with Police Chief Tim Dorn to discuss the case.
''I provided him with contact information and advised that the Chief typically worked regular business hours. Terry pointed to the blood sample and requested, 'Don't do anything with that until I talk with the Chief.'''
It doesn't sound as if Johnson thought he was going to pass that test. But he did, didn't he? So was it fair for the Bears to cut him?
Of. Course. It. Was.
How many breaks does he want?
And any team thinking of signing Johnson anyway might want to read the report first. He has been cut one break after another, and rather than changing his behavior, he keeps looking for more breaks. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who suspended Johnson for eight games for his gun charge, among other things, might notice that his punishment wasn't enough to do any good. How about 16 games?
The Bears didn't dump Johnson for speeding, which is why police pulled him over. They dumped him because he'd become too serious a distraction, an embarrassment, too big a pain in the butt.
The Bears can set a higher standard for employees, not a mere legal minimum. Pass a test and stay out of jail, fine. That doesn't mean the Bears needed to keep him.
Just imagine if Johnson were still a Bear. After his suspension, he would return during a playoff run. Would he be trustworthy? You have to be able to count on your teammates. But Johnson wasn't thinking of them, not showing respect to coach Lovie Smith.
The problem with Johnson was the whole pattern. Police raided his home, removed children while getting to his guns. The Bears gave him a break, warned him to straighten up or else. So he went to a club late at night with a friend, who ended up shot to death. The Bears suspended Johnson for one meaningless game, another break.
A judge confined him to his home, then allowed him to leave the state for the Super Bowl. Once there, he embarrassed the Bears again, somehow calling his stupid mistakes a racist plot against him.
He went to jail, and the Bears gave him another break, bringing him back. He was suspended by the league, and then. ...
''I administered the remaining tests and observed Terry's poor motor skills, lack of balance, poor comprehension of simple instructions and inability to perform divided-attention tasks,'' Bates said in the report.
His own worst enemy
Here's what the report says happened just before 3:32 a.m., after Bates told Johnson he was failing the field sobriety tests: ''He requested I follow him while he drove to his mother's home.''
At 3:46: ''Terry stated he did not want to have any problems and requested I release him without completing the investigation.''
At 3:52: ''Terry again requested we not continue with the course of action. I encouraged Terry to telephone his attorney. ... He told me he understood but just wanted to talk with me about his arrest.''
Don't feel sorry for Johnson unless you want to blame a culture that gives special breaks to athletes, fostering more bad behavior.
Nah, Johnson did this to himself. Here's to hoping teams aren't lining up to sign him until he makes real change, not the fake stuff he promised before.
We have to stop letting these guys weasel their way out.
