A Cook County judge in Illinois called former Bears defensive tackle Tank Johnson a coward for not helping his best friend after he was shot inside a River North nightclub in 2006.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Associate Judge Joseph M. Claps blasted Johnson for not helping his dying friend and bodyguard, Willie B. Posey, inside the Ice Bar nightclub and for later lying to investigators, telling them he hadn’t been in the club on that December 2006 night.

“He has to live with that for the rest of his life,” Claps said, referring to Johnson’s “cowardice.”

Johnson, who now plays for the Cincinnati Bengals, was not in the courtroom during the 38-year-old Michael Selvie’s sentencing.

In the hours before the shooting, Johnson was inside the Ice Bar with a female friend and Posey. Selvie, another patron, had been repeatedly bumping Johnson and his female friend on the dance floor, when Posey approached and the argument began, prosecutors said. The argument escalated into a fistfight and ended with Selvie pulling out a handgun and shooting Posey once. The shooting was one of a series of events involving Johnson that led the team to cut him a few months later.

During Selvie’s trial, Johnson acknowledged on the witness stand that he’d initially lied to police about being in the club the night his friend was shot. Johnson testified he was scared and concerned about his career.

I would say “coward” is an appropriate word to describe Johnson, although I’d also add “selfish.”