Goodell grounds ‘Tank’ for eight games

The Associated Press

Published Tuesday, June 5, 2007

The Chicago Bears expect Tank Johnson back in their lineup in the shortest possible time. So does Johnson.

That would be after six games, not the eight that the defensive tackle was suspended for yesterday by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Under terms of the suspension for Johnson’s violation of the league’s toughened personal conduct policy, Goodell said the ban could be reduced to six games if Johnson has no further involvement with law enforcement and undergoes counseling.

"I am looking at it like a six-game suspension, because I definitely am very confident that I’m capable of doing everything that he’s asked me to do and more," Johnson said.

"I have faith in Tank," Bears Coach Lovie Smith said. "Tank has been a different guy for a long time. I think he’s demonstrated that, and this is just another step toward getting him back on the field and getting this past behind him."

Johnson is the third player to receive a hefty suspension from Goodell, who became commissioner in September. Johnson recently spent two months in the Cook County jail for violating probation on a gun charge. He joins Tennessee’s Adam "Pacman" Jones, suspended for the entire season, and Cincinnati’s Chris Henry, out eight games.

Jones, who’s appealing his suspension, has been arrested five times and had 10 interviews with police since being drafted in April 2005. Henry is one of nine Bengals arrested last year - one of the reasons Goodell, with the approval of the players’ union and the newly established players’ council, established his "get tough" policy.

Johnson will be allowed to attend training camp and play in the preseason.

"It’s not my call to say whether it’s fair or unfair," Johnson said. "But Roger Goodell’s a fair man, I know that. He took everything into consideration that he and I talked about, and what he came up with is what he came up with."

If he misses eight games, Johnson loses $255,000, based on his salary for the 2007 season of $510,000.

In December, police raided the 300-pound defensive tackle’s suburban Chicago home and found six unregistered firearms, a violation of his probation on an earlier gun charge.

That charge stemmed from Johnson’s 2005 arrest after a Chicago nightclub valet reported seeing Johnson with a handgun in his SUV. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.

● BRONCOS SIGN ADAMS: Veteran defensive tackle Sam Adams, who played last season with Cincinnati, signed yesterday with Denver.

The 335-pound Adams, a three-time Pro Bowler, previously played for Buffalo, Oakland, Baltimore and Seattle, winning a Super Bowl ring with the Ravens after the 2000 season and playing in the title game with Oakland two years later. He was a first-round pick of Seattle in 1994, the eighth overall choice in the draft.

Adams, who will turn 34 on June 13, is known as a run-stuffer, but has 44 career sacks, fourth among active defensive tackles.