MIAMI — Johnson was arrested on Dec. 14 after a raid on his Gurnee, Ill., home in which six guns, more than 500 rounds of ammunition and marijuana was found. The three-year starter was not in the house at the time, but his bodyguard William Posey was arrested in the house with the marijuana.
Two days later, Posey was shot and killed in a Chicago night club in the presence of Johnson, who allegedly had words with the perpetrator before Posey was shot. In late December, Michael Selvie was charged with first degree murder in Posey’s death, as Johnson was among the witnesses picking Selvie out of a police line-up.
Because of the gun charges, Johnson was placed under house arrest, and the Bears suspended him for two games. He played in the Bears’ playoff games at Solider Field, but because of his house arrest, it was an open question as to whether he’d be able to travel to Super Bowl XLI in Miami.
On Jan. 22, Johnson was cleared to travel and must return to house arrest by Feb. 5, his third arrest in 18 months.
Very little of Johnson’s actions have been on the football field of late.
So during Tuesday’s Media Day activities and Wednesday’s press availability, Johnson tried to conjure the words to speak louder than his actions to show why his legal troubles don’t define him and what’s he’s learned from it.
See Tank accept the media scrutiny from his legal troubles.
“Sometimes I feel like it’s unfair, but it comes with the territory. To whom much is given, much is expected,” Tank said. “When you’re given the opportunity to be a talented player, who is one of the best in the world at what you do, you’ve got to hold yourself to a higher standard.”
See Tank give respect to the father-figure-like advice of Bears coach Lovie Smith.
“I can’t say enough about coach Smith. He’s great at getting his point across. He doesn’t beat you up with stuff, he lets you know how your actions affect everyone else,” Tank said. “And sometimes when you’re going through it, you don’t look at it that way initially. He’s taught me a lot of stuff.”
See Tank see the bright side of his house arrest.
“House arrest is tough because your everyday life is taken away from you. You can’t do the things you want to do, you have to get permission to do stuff,” Tank said. “But it’s a small block of my life and so much good has come from it. I’ve spent so much more time with my little girl, with my family, its actually been a very productive time for me.”
See Tank thank the Cook County, Ill., judge that cleared him to travel.
“He understood that this is my job. It means a lot to me and my life. I appreciate him for that immensely.”
See Tank exclaim that he’s toned down potentially troublemaking visits to Miami’s clubs.
“I’ve definitely toned it down a great deal. I don’t want to give anyone the impression that out here free like that. I might go to dinner, but I’m really just trying to enjoy this,” Tank said. “I am free to do what the Super Bowl allows. I’ve had a great time out here.”
See Tank profess a newfound faith in God as part of what he has learned from his experience.
“My teammates are always there for me, but I really lean on the Bible. God shows me everyday that I am his child. That he has a plan for me everyday. It’s a great feeling when you can talk to him and he talks to your heart,” Tank said.
See Tank infer that his detractors use racial stereotyping in calling his character into question.
“When you see me walking down the street, I don’t look like you, I don’t talk like you, I don’t walk like you. The media says, ‘He’s just like other people,’ but I see people like that all the time,” Tank said. “I’ve given you guys the opportunity to stereotype me like that and its most unfortunate. This is the way I am, I’m young, I’m black, I’ve got tattoos and I’ve got dreads. It is what it is.”
See Tank claim that there are demons who are trying to bring him down.
“There’s so many in so many shapes and sizes,” said Tank on his demons. “There’s a lot of people out there who are out to get you. To do bad stuff to you, to say bad things about you. All kinds of people, and sure, they’re in the media. Through this, God has shown me what demons look like, now I know.”
But when the time came for to see Tank lay the chips down and apologize, the response to a question by Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke on Tuesday spoke volumes.
“Are you sorry for what happened?” Tank was asked.
“Sorry to who?” Tank replied derisively.
“Sorry to society, to anyone?,” Plaschke retorted.
See Tank grimace. See Tank dismissively turn his back on Plaschke.
See Tank say nothing as a throng of reporters waited for a response. Fifteen seconds of tense silence.
Tank talked a lot, but in the final balance, actions (or lack of it) still spoke better than words after all.
Todd Golden is the Tribune-Star’s sports editor. He can be reached by email at todd.golden@tribstar.com.
From the Press Box
From the Press Box: Actions speak louder than words for Bears’ Tank Johnson
- From the Press Box
-
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU baseball has pluses, minuses for tourney bid
Last Thursday, when Indiana State’s baseball jumped around in a celebratory dogpile after clinching the Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship at Bob Warn Field, no one thought that a little over a week later, the dreaded NCAA Tournament bubble would fly over Terre Haute. -
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Subtle switch has fostered MVC baseball parity
When Indiana State was crowned as the regular season baseball champion of the Missouri Valley Conference last Thursday, it marked the fifth different regular season champion the league has had since 2005.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU has done enough to be in NCAAs
When you get older, you’re supposed to get wiser. I don’t know if I qualify, but I’m trying.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: TH’s Murans back in the Derby … this time with favorite
When Terre Haute native Paul Murans experienced his first Triple Crown horse racing run as part-owner of Mucho Macho Man in 2011, the experience was — to borrow a phrase from one-time Marquette coach Al McGuire — seashells and balloons.
-
TODD GOLDEN: IHSAA debate interrupts more pressing issues
State Senator Mike Delph has sowed a 15-year-old wind and put the emotional class basketball debate back on the public’s mind.
-
TODD GOLDEN: ISU eyes prize one game at a time
Most baseball fans know that the baseball season — even a college baseball season — is a marathon, not a sprint.
-
TODD GOLDEN: Grass is green enough for Indiana State in Missouri Valley
Take a look around the Missouri Valley Conference landscape and it would be easy to assume that a significant portion of the league membership is searching for perceived greener pastures.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Sycamores are Odum’s team now
Soooo … who wants to talk about the 2012 Indiana State men’s basketball season?
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU will face uphill climb in MVC in 2013
The Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals are always scintillating. No more so than Saturday when Illinois State upset 15th-ranked Wichita State 65-64 and when No. 25 Creighton took care of business with a 99-71 victory over Evansville.
Arch Madness indeed. -
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Effort, heart, concentration are fleeting for ISU
Every time Indiana State’s men’s basketball wins a game, you think to yourself, OK, now is when these Sycamores live up to their potential.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Peyton’s place belongs to Eli
The good people of Indianapolis justifiably puffed out their chests throughout Super Bowl week as the city received deserved rave reviews for the job it did as hosts of Super Bowl XLVI.
-
TODD GOLDEN: Teammates, colleagues express their loyalty to Weatherford
Sometimes you worry whether someone is stopping to smell the roses when they smell rosiest.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Does melted ice reveal Belichick's heart of gold?
If you’re into Youtube — and who isn’t these days? — there’s a vintage television profile of then-Cleveland Browns coach Bill Belichick posted on the popular site.
-
TODD GOLDEN: Indiana State men caught between expectation, reality
The Missouri Valley Conference is hush-hush on how it puts together its matchups for the annual conference schedule.
-
TODD GOLDEN: Accentuating the positive with ISU's Odum
There’s something to be said for being your own worst critic, especially when it comes to sports.
-
TODD GOLDEN: Loss hurts, but national exposure is ... priceless
Trying to advance the philosophy that any publicity is good publicity is probably an effort wasted on a losing team less than 10 minutes removed from a disappointing defeat where victory had been oh so close to fruition.
-
TODD GOLDEN: The great playoff race is on for Indiana State football
The great race is on.
-
TODD GOLDEN: Fans owe ISU seniors 10,000
I have covered Indiana State football since the 2004 season.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Indiana State has used up its playoff mulligan
It’s been a glass half-full kind of season for the Indiana State football team, so it was easy — and exciting — to get caught up in looking ahead to scenarios that placed ISU in the FCS playoffs, even if ISU didn’t win out.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Not a coulda, shoulda for Sycamores
Indiana State's football team is getting tired of being graded on the curve of its own past futility.
-
TODD GOLDEN: Supernatural Shakir was a sight to behold
I’ve often heard it said when a player has a big statistical day that he’s racking up “video game numbers.”
-
TODD GOLDEN: Sycamore defense absorbs lesson
A win is a win, they say. And for Indiana State, none of the Sycamores are going to take back or put an asterisk next to their 48-34 victory over Butler on Saturday.
-
TODD GOLDEN: And now on to the normal part of the schedule
The Steve Miller Band would’ve appreciated Indiana State’s trip to Penn State.
-
TODD GOLDEN: Sabermetrics has changed love of baseball
I turned 40 this summer. No problem.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: No debate about quality of Vigo baseball
It’s standard practice for losing high school coaches — especially coaches who led teams on a deep postseason run — to heap praise on their seniors one last time. It’s even more so when one of those seniors was the rock of a given team for a four-year period.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Season dies down, but ISU’s plate not empty
With coaching changes having mostly sorted themselves out and with recruiting having just entered its quiet period today, college basketball has settled into its more relaxed offseason mode.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Winning spring more important than winning the spring game
Indiana State football coach Trent Miles has been involved in collegiate coaching since 1987. He knows better than anyone that there’s no one-size-fits-all way to approach the annual spring football game.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Friday wait was worth it for Indiana State
Many have seen the famous Salvador Dali painting, “Persistence of Memory.” The most memorable images in the surreal painting are unquestionably the pocket watches that are drooped over a ledge, a tree branch, etc.
-
Many Sycamores, past and present, to remember
The minute it became apparent Indiana State had punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament with a 60-56 victory over Missouri State on Sunday, I reflected on all of the moments in the previous seven years of covering the Sycamores that led to this.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Sycamore AD Ron Prettyman explains Cal Poly interest
Editor’s note: Indiana State Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman interviewed and participated in a public open forum for the same position at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo last week.
- More From the Press Box Headlines
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU baseball has pluses, minuses for tourney bid
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff
Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
Raw Video: Cop Shoots Man Eating Another's Face
Obama Honors Fallen Troops at Arlington Cemetery
Man in Crane at Texas College Says He's Armed
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Raw Video: Deadly Explosion at Minn. Paper Mill
Romney Campaigns Ahead of Claiming Nomination
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Romney Promises World's Strongest Military
Diplomatic Expulsions Follow Fresh Syria Report
15 Dead in Northern Italy's 5.8-magnitude Quake
Panetta: Asia the 'Project' for New Navy Grads
Raw Video: Earthquake Shakes Evacuees in Italy
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
Obama Pays Tribute to Vietnam Veterans
Beryl Knocks Out Power in Florida
Raw Video: Memorial Day Aboard Intrepid
Angry Birds Spreading Their Wings
Los Angeles Bar Bans Bachelorettes
Hamster Plays Dead
Beyonce Shows Off 60 Pound Weight Loss at Concert
Drunk Women Breaking Into Houses: A New Trend?
LeAnn Rimes Rocks Short Shorts
Gordon Ramsay Carried Off Field
Man Dies Getting Lap Dance
Kim Kardashian Claims Items Stolen from Her Luggage
Bear cools off in Calif. family's pool
Ep. 3: Chopped Desserts
Air Force dad surprises family at baseball game
Justin Bieber Wanted for Questioning for L.A. Scuffle
J.Lo and Marc's Friendly Reunion
Jet makes emergency landing after debris falls off
Cynthia Nixon Ties the Knot
Woman, 80, Falls Out of Skydive Harness Mid-Jump
Keira Reveals Engagement Ring
