A bad left turn for David Terrell eventually could lead to his road out of town.
Terrell downplayed his Tuesday night arrest as a routine traffic stop, but general manager Jerry Angelo acknowledged Wednesday the way trouble follows the Bears wide receiver troubles the organization.
With one year and $925,000 remaining on Terrell’s contract after this season, Angelo’s reaction rekindled the debate on whether the former first-round draft pick’s production justifies the inevitable distractions.
“It’s an embarrassing situation for all involved,” Angelo said. “Unfortunately, he has had a history of these types of things, and at some point you just feel that they’re behind him. We’re disappointed given the fact that he has matured in a lot of ways, in a lot of areas and then this has to come up. Now, he has to take another step backward in terms of his credibility.”
Around 6:50 p.m. Tuesday, Terrell allegedly drove his 2004 Range Rover recklessly past a car at an intersection in the 800 block of North LaSalle Drive, police said. He continued driving erratically from Chicago Avenue to Chestnut Street before police pulled him over.
He was cited for reckless driving, failure to yield, driving with a suspended license, failure to stay in his lane and driving without insurance or a registration. A police spokesman said Terrell, who was not drinking, cooperated and told officers it was not “a big to-do.”
After spending an hour in jail at the Near North District Station, he was released on bond and is due in traffic court Dec. 13.
Terrell’s attorney, Mat Couloute, explained Terrell indeed has purchased insurance for the vehicle and that it is registered properly. He just didn’t have the paperwork in the car.
Couloute, based in Washington D.C., said months ago he accompanied Terrell to the Illinois Secretary of State’s office to have Terrell’s license reinstated after it was suspended when Terrell missed a court appearance in Ohio on another ticket (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text).
Couloute spent Wednesday night working with local representation to find out if Terrell’s renewed license had been caught in a bureaucratic web at the DMV or if another incident had caused the license to be suspended.
Terrell maintained his license is valid.
“We’re talking about a driving ticket that my lawyers will take care of, and I won’t go to jail,” said Terrell, taken aback by suggestions this latest misstep might hasten his exit out of Chicago.
“It’s not a gun charge, not spitting in anybody’s face, not fighting on the field. A driving ticket,” he said. “I don’t think my driving record has anything to do with me as a person.”
Bears coach Lovie Smith summoned Terrell to the “principal’s office,” as Smith called it, to discuss the matter first thing Wednesday morning.
Smith accepted Terrell’s explanation and bristled when asked if he had a team policy regarding players who get arrested. The Bears plan to handle any discipline internally.
“Do I have a policy for a guy that has a traffic ticket? No, we don’t have traffic ticket policies,” Smith said.
Pressed to comment on how the incident might affect Terrell on the field Sunday, Smith abruptly changed the subject.
“I don’t think it’s going to distract him–next question,” he said.
Angelo sounded less willing to forgive and forget a player who has made more headlines off the field than headway on it. Terrell has 23 catches for 318 yards, but he also has flipped off the crowd against Detroit, committed a handful of silly penalties and risked a costly 15-yard penalty Sunday by throwing the ball in disgust at the Titans sideline after dropping a pass.
“It [was] an emotional thing [and] sometimes emotional things are stupid, yes, but I’m not going to say it’s stupid,” Angelo said.
Knowing Smith would support Terrell publicly, a popular move in the locker room, Angelo could not come down too hard on the enigmatic receiver. Still, Angelo left the impression that in light of the latest shenanigans, Terrell is anything but a lock for the 2005 roster.
“It’s a speed bump, [and] we’re not treating it as acute,” Angelo said. “But at some point he has to take ownership of what he is and who he is. He lives in the fish bowl and he has to understand that and this comes with the territory.
“We are judging players based on what they do on the field. Does character and citizenship come into play? Yes, it comes into play. But his primary responsibility is to the job based on his role on our football team.”
