Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib isn’t going to go down to a felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge without a fight.
Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times reports Talib is preparing a “vigorous defense” by hiring a top-notch sports attorney who has represented Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa and Andy Pettitte. He has also hired a Dallas criminal attorney and a private investigator.
The key to the defense: Talib is “privately adamant” he didn’t fire any gunshots. Talib has told friends that only his mother Okolo Talib fired shots at his sister’s boyfriend Shannon Billings.
“I talked to Aqib two days ago,” said Clint Bowen, Talib’s defensive coordinator at Kansas. “I told him, ‘I just read something about you firing a gun.’ He said, ‘Man, I didn’t do a thing. It’ll all come out soon.’ He just kept saying that . . . He said, ‘I didn’t do that. That was my mom. It’s all going to come out.’''
This is some intense and sad Shakespeare-level family drama here. Or maybe The Wire. [Editor’s note: Personally, I think it’s a cross between The Beverly Hillbillies and Pulp Fiction.]
The investigation could come down to this: Will Talib’s mom try to take the fall to keep her son out of jail?