Former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Chris Hovan says that Aqib Talib should be taken care of
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Chris Hovan said that the managers of the team have been giving too much leeway to his former teammate, defensive back Aqib Talib, who pleaded guilty to firing a gun at his sister’s boyfriend in March.
Hovan called out Bucs general manager Mark Dominik and head coach Raheem Morris, telling them to cut Talib off after his second arrest since 2009, which occurred after the shooting incident.
Hovan believes that Morris contributes to Talib’s reckless behaviour both on and off the field since he was drafted 20th overall in the 2008 National Football League (NFL) Draft. In his three seasons with the Buccaneers, Talib has recorded 15
interceptions returned for a total of 222 yards and one touchdown. He has also recorded 127 tackles, 112 of which were solo, and 35 passes deflected.
"(Talib) has been given too much leeway from Raheem Morris because, I guess, Coach Morris (the Bucs' former secondary coach) has favouritism towards him because he played defensive back," said Hovan. "Again, they are giving this young man way too much leeway.
Any other individual would have been cut way before this. But Aqib's got so much talent -- his talent goes through the ceiling. But you can't have these offseason issues and you can't keep covering for this kid because they're saying it's OK for what he is
doing."
Because of Talib’s problems, many analysts suspected that the team might be looking for a cornerback in next week’s 2011 NFL Draft with Dominik saying that you can never “have enough cornerbacks,” but also made it clear that Talib’s troubles were not the
foundation behind his stance.
Talib was last arrested and charged with simple battery and resisting arrest after assaulting a taxi driver in Tampa Bay, Florida back in 2009. He was suspended by the league for the first game of the 2010 season as a punishment and he settled with the taxi
driver outside of court.
Even before that, Talib had some troubles on-field. He was involved in a fight with teammate Cory Boyd at the NFL Rookie Symposium in 2008 and then accidentally hit teammate Torrie Cox in the face with his helmet while fighting with teammate Donald Penn
during minicamp in May of 2009.
Hovan said that the team was sending the wrong message to its other players by continuing to support Talib while all these legal and domestic troubles surround him. He says that it is not fair to other players that are staying on track while Talib is continuously
supported while continuing to be involved in inappropriate behaviour. He says that the way that Morris and Dominik are handling the situation make it look as though Talib is more important than the team as a whole.
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