Heatherthepackgirl
Cheesehead
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
It's questionable whether someone other than a professional football player would have been allowed to go on a business trip to South Florida after having been arrested three times in the past 18 months, but an Illinois judge ruled that Johnson could travel with his teammates to play in the biggest football game of the year.
"This is a business trip and the judge gave me full rein to take a trip like this with my team," Johnson said Tuesday at Super Bowl XLI media day. "This is a trip for work and that's how they're approaching it. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be at a Super Bowl and just be able to be with guys who you've been in battle with, it's a great, great experience."
Before leaving for Miami, Johnson, 25, had been under house arrest and allowed to travel only between his house and the Bears' facility in Lake Forest, Ill. A judge issued the confinement after Cook County prosecutors accused him of violating probation in connection with his arrest Dec. 14 at his Gurnee home on charges of possessing weapons and ammunition without a valid license.
According to reports, police seized six weapons and around 550 rounds of ammunition during a raid on Johnson's home. Already on probation for a previous charge of unlawful use of a weapon, Johnson compounded his troubles when, two days later, his close friend and bodyguard, James Posey, was shot to death while both men were in a downtown Chicago nightclub.
After Johnson's arrest, general manager Jerry Angelo made it clear to Johnson that he shouldn't be out in places where trouble might find him. Johnson's decision to be in a nightclub late at night when his friend was killed led the Bears to suspend him for a game.
Johnson said he learned his lesson and was trying to change his lifestyle.
"There's not many major things I have to do to change my life," he said. "I have a couple things I have to do in respect to keeping my circle small and limit the amount of times I go out. I've never hurt anybody; I've never been involved in anything violent like that. It's not like I have to do a lot of things. I just have to tighten some screws and become more of a homebody and a family-oriented person. I'm not out there like a lot of people want to think that I am."
Some think Johnson received preferential treatment by being allowed to travel to Miami, but Johnson, an integral part of the Bears' defensive line with star tackle Tommie Harris on injured reserve, doesn't agree.
However, he does understand that he's on a zero-tolerance leash.
"I know I'm playing on my last chance," Johnson said. "It's an opportunity I don't want to squander. I'm very grateful for it. I'm very grateful to the organization for knowing my heart and my true character and just I hope I can make the most of it."
Johnson said his fascination with firearms came from growing up in Arizona and living in the desert.
"That's kind of some of the stuff you do in the desert," he said.
It's not anything he'll be doing soon if he intends to play football again.
"Some bad things have happened, some bad circumstances," defensive end Adewale Ogunleye said. "If you get to know Tank, he's a really upstanding kind of guy. He's definitely not the person the media made him out to be."
This week, however, he's on the spot. Mess up again and he'll be missing more than the Super Bowl.
"Anytime you go through the situation I went through you get a lot wiser," Johnson said. "Unfortunately, some things have to happen to make you wiser."
It's questionable whether someone other than a professional football player would have been allowed to go on a business trip to South Florida after having been arrested three times in the past 18 months, but an Illinois judge ruled that Johnson could travel with his teammates to play in the biggest football game of the year.
"This is a business trip and the judge gave me full rein to take a trip like this with my team," Johnson said Tuesday at Super Bowl XLI media day. "This is a trip for work and that's how they're approaching it. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be at a Super Bowl and just be able to be with guys who you've been in battle with, it's a great, great experience."
Before leaving for Miami, Johnson, 25, had been under house arrest and allowed to travel only between his house and the Bears' facility in Lake Forest, Ill. A judge issued the confinement after Cook County prosecutors accused him of violating probation in connection with his arrest Dec. 14 at his Gurnee home on charges of possessing weapons and ammunition without a valid license.
According to reports, police seized six weapons and around 550 rounds of ammunition during a raid on Johnson's home. Already on probation for a previous charge of unlawful use of a weapon, Johnson compounded his troubles when, two days later, his close friend and bodyguard, James Posey, was shot to death while both men were in a downtown Chicago nightclub.
After Johnson's arrest, general manager Jerry Angelo made it clear to Johnson that he shouldn't be out in places where trouble might find him. Johnson's decision to be in a nightclub late at night when his friend was killed led the Bears to suspend him for a game.
Johnson said he learned his lesson and was trying to change his lifestyle.
"There's not many major things I have to do to change my life," he said. "I have a couple things I have to do in respect to keeping my circle small and limit the amount of times I go out. I've never hurt anybody; I've never been involved in anything violent like that. It's not like I have to do a lot of things. I just have to tighten some screws and become more of a homebody and a family-oriented person. I'm not out there like a lot of people want to think that I am."
Some think Johnson received preferential treatment by being allowed to travel to Miami, but Johnson, an integral part of the Bears' defensive line with star tackle Tommie Harris on injured reserve, doesn't agree.
However, he does understand that he's on a zero-tolerance leash.
"I know I'm playing on my last chance," Johnson said. "It's an opportunity I don't want to squander. I'm very grateful for it. I'm very grateful to the organization for knowing my heart and my true character and just I hope I can make the most of it."
Johnson said his fascination with firearms came from growing up in Arizona and living in the desert.
"That's kind of some of the stuff you do in the desert," he said.
It's not anything he'll be doing soon if he intends to play football again.
"Some bad things have happened, some bad circumstances," defensive end Adewale Ogunleye said. "If you get to know Tank, he's a really upstanding kind of guy. He's definitely not the person the media made him out to be."
This week, however, he's on the spot. Mess up again and he'll be missing more than the Super Bowl.
"Anytime you go through the situation I went through you get a lot wiser," Johnson said. "Unfortunately, some things have to happen to make you wiser."