NFL News: Buccaneers’ Aqib Talib Under Fire For Heated Argument With NFL Official
The NFL is currently investigating a quarrel between Tampa Bay Buccaneers Aqib Talib and a league official who was working in the game against the Baltimore Ravens.
Raheem Morris, the Bucs coach, defended Talib saying that he did nothing wrong. It is claimed that there was a heated agreement outside the locker room after Sunday’s loss to Baltimore. Talib demanded an explanation for a teammate’s pass interference penalty
in the second quarter.
Reports came into the NFL head office that Talib made an expletive comment to the official about the call made by Boris Cheek. The official then responded by using profanity of his own, describing Talib’s playing. He then said that Talib threatened to punch
him.
"We are looking into it," NFL spokesman Randall Liu said.
The pass interference call was against Myron Lewis, who was defending T.J. Houshmandzadeh. The call set Baltimore up for a TD, even though the Ravens were ahead by seven already.
Coach Morris disagreed with the penalty and asked for an explanation from Cheek during halftime.
"I don't really know what happened post-game, and I really didn't talk to Aqib. I'm sure he did the same thing that everybody else did -- talked about the call, disagreed with the official and moved on," Morris said. "If they they had words, that's between
him and that official. I don't get into that stuff."
Talib did not speak with reporters after the game, and was not available for comment after the accusations were made public.
The three-year professional has the most interceptions on the Bucs team, with six. He missed the season opener without pay for dishonoring the NFL’s personal conduct policy. He was also fined because of assault on a cab driver in 2009.
Morris disagreed with several published reports saying that Talib had to be held back to keep him from going after the official he argued with.
"He didn't do anything wrong. He was just in conversations, so I'm not going to sit here and act like Aqib did anything wrong," the coach said.
"I think you can misinterpret how he talks. His swearing is not necessarily the swearing that you guys would come across," Morris added. "I don't even know if he swore. I do know he wanted an explanation of the call."
NFL Investigators are currently looking into the incident.
Tags: