The Bengals, Titans & Bears, Oh My!!

So many times during his career with the Chicago Bears, defensive lineman Tank Johnson tested everyone's patience to the limit. And yet they gave him support where he needed it most, visited him while he was locked up, & gave him numerous opportunities to redeem himself & give his career in a Bears uniform a boost, a chance to advance to much bigger & better things.

But in light of his latest run-in with the law down in Arizona, the Bears were at their last nerve with Tank, feeling that he compromised the team's credibility long enough, so on Monday they cut him loose. Bears GM Jerry Angelo had these words to say:

"...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."

This may sound like an unfortunate incident for Tank to get into trouble for the nth time, but after awhile, it also is disheartening. The Bears have really come a long way in such a short amount of time, & as their last two seasons have revealed, they could be a formidable football dynasty again. To have someone like Tank Johnson detracting from their successes & accomplishments was getting tedious, so it was a good call for Chicago to release some baggage from their team & move forward.

But what about Pac-Man Jones? some are asking, feeling that the Tennessee Titans need to show him some tough love too - & also the door leading out of their organization. He's more of an embarrassment than Tank ever was/will be. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell may have given Pac-Man a season-long suspension but this, to me, isn't adequate punishment for the latest spate of trouble Jones has gotten himself into; the Titans management need to be more assertive with the Pac-Man like Chicago was with Tank Johnson, no ands, ifs or buts about it.
(Also of note: the Bengals with Chris Henry if anyone's in doubt.)

Bottom line: something, somewhere has to give. In the NFL nowadays, weeding out the troublemakers is becoming more commonplace but what to do with them, as the Bears/Tank Johnson affair shows, is a glaring issue that cannot be overlooked. If Jerry Angelo's words have struck a chord in the hearts of every GM from the other NFL teams out there, action at this point will speak more loudly than words. From the looks of things right now, they already have.