Larry Brown Sports

Aqib Talib was traded to the New England Patriots on Thursday, capping what was one of the most quiet trade deadline periods in recent memory.

The Buccaneers traded Talib and a 7th-round pick in this year’s draft to the Patriots for a 4th-round pick in 2014.

Talib, a fifth-year cornerback, is serving a four-game suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drugs policy for taking Adderall. He’s already sat out three games, but the Patriots are on their bye. That means Talib will likely miss New England’s first game back from the bye in Week 10 against the Bills.

The trade seems to make sense from both sides.

Talib has had a rash of off-field problems aside from the PED suspension. He was indicted last year for shooting at his sister’s boyfriend, he got into a fight at the rookie symposium in 2008, and he fought a teammate in 2009. New Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano was probably delighted to get rid of the problem child for something of good value.

Meanwhile, Patriots coach Bill Belichick seems to have fallen in love with players who have character issues that he hopes he can fix. The plan worked so well with Randy Moss that New England acquired Albert Haynesworth and Chad Ochoinco, who both turned out to be busts for the Pats. Belichick will hope for a better result from Talib, who has proven he can be one of the top cover corners in the league.

New England is ranked 28th in the league in passing yards and passing touchdowns allowed. That’s probably why they figured Talib was worth the gamble despite being in the final year of his contract.

In the wake of all the trouble Aqib Talib has caused for himself since coming into the NFL, we’re glad to see he is working to clean up his image.  Instead of getting into fights with teammates or assaulting cab drivers, Talib has turned his attention to making guest appearances at parties that everyone is more than welcome to attend.  Making a name for himself in the community by attending events could be a great way for Aqib to change the opinion of some of his critics.  Wait, the event he’s a spokesman for is a Halloween party called the “Coon-O-Ween?”  Never mind, scratch all that.

What a moron.  How a person could actually go through with something like that amazes me.  Not only that, but the promotion you see above was featured in the Florida Sentinel Bulletin in Tampa Bay according to Media Take Out.  I can’t wait to hear the spin that people try to put on this one by saying there was a raccoon on the flyer and the name has nothing to do with racism.  On second thought, it’s Aqib Talib.  Why would he even bother? As a side not, “Aquib” is spelled incorrectly, so I suppose his name could have been included without permission. That seems doubtful given his history.

Thanks to Deadspin for pointing out the incredibly ignorant story.

To say that Aqib Talib has a troubled past would be an understatement. His mother has been in and out of prison and in trouble with the law on numerous occasions.  Talib has been in multiple fights over the last few years and was suspended for a game last season after punching a cabbie.  Most recently, he found himself at the center of a shooting involving his mother and sister’s boyfriend.  He was released from jail on Wednesday after posting $25,000 bail and has “vigorously denied” any allegations against him for having shot a gun.

Despite all his hardships, former Kansas defensive coordinator Clint Bowen said Talib is extremely bright — so bright that he maintained a passable GPA without going to any of his classes.

“He tries to do that whole street thing, but don’t let that fool you,” Bowen said. “He’s very smart. I don’t think he ever went to a single class, but he still got a 2.7 (GPA) at Kansas.”

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Aqib Talib may be a knuckle head, but that guy sure can play. And if he bowled, we’d say he sure can roll. The Buccaneers got a bad break when Talib went down in the second half of Sunday’s loss to the Falcons. The former first-round pick had six interceptions in 11 games and has been establishing himself as one of the best cornerbacks in the league. In fact, after missing the first game of the year due to a suspension, he had an interception in three straight games.

St. Petersburg Times reporter Rick Stroud wrote on Monday that “CB Aqib Talib will miss the rest of the season for the Bucs with a hip injury. No surgery, but he tore a tendon from the bone.” Tore a tendon off the bone? That sure reminds me of Nomar Garciaparra’s groin injury in 2005. Luckily surgery won’t be needed but rest will be required.

After blowing a 10-point lead in the 4th quarter against the Falcons, the Bucs are now 7-5. Their chances of winning the NFC South are slim considering the Falcons are 10-2 and the Saints are 9-3. Additionally, the 8-4 Packers are ahead of them in the Wild Card race and not even in the playoffs as of now! The Bucs are at the Redskins then home vs. the Lions and Seahawks before closing out the year at New Orleans. A 10-win season is still possible, but not having their top corner guy will make it much more difficult to stop opposing offenses.

The last time we checked in with Buccaneers cornerback Aqib Talib he was brawling with Cory Boyd at the rookie symposium. A year later, we see that not much has changed; Boyd is no longer on an NFL team and Talib is still fighting with teammates.

Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib let a routine run-in escalate Wednesday, inadvertently striking would-be peacemaker Torrie Cox with his helmet in an apparent attempt to hit left tackle Donald Penn.

Cox’s agent, Peter Schaffer, said his client was attempting to break up the skirmish. Penn said that Cox, a veteran cornerback at 28, sustained facial cuts he described as minor.

Now why exactly would Talib be messing with a guy twice his size? Probably because he’s stupid, but that kinda goes without saying. I’d say he’s just about a broken nose away from being suspended two games, Steve Smith-style. With the way the Bucs look, that probably wouldn’t change their fate much — they’re a five win team at best.

The NFL rookie symposium is an excellent event. All the youngsters are schooled by the vets on many topics including staying out of trouble, handling the media, watching finances, and maximizing opportunities in the league. It’s quite a helpful program from what I understand, with a lot of good information to offer. The only problem is that you’re dealing with rookies who are often too rock-headed to absorb it all. Such is the case it seems, with Aqib Talib and Cory Boyd who rumbled at the symposium. From Florio at Pro Football Talk:

The players were in a budget and finances meeting, where rookies from four teams were gathered. Talib and Boyd had been jawing at each other for a while, and it came to a head during that specific session.
…
The incident was broken up by Rob Davis, a former long snapper who currently serves as the Packers’ director of player development.

As the source said, “They were told not to let the incident leave the room, but it did.”

This wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if it were true considering Talib was one of the players in the draft identified as a “questionable character” dude once it was revealed he blazed. I still think he’s going to be a baller in the league, but he needs to learn to manage his anger otherwise we’re looking at another DeAngelo Hall. As for Boyd, you can get a load of this character after the jump.

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