Like him or not, there’s no denying that Aqib Talib is one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. In fact, in my opinion, Talib is the best cornerback in the NFL.

In the preseason, I was very critical of Talib’s offseason shooting and string of personal foul penalties. I said that he was expendable, and that his actions were hurting Denver more than they were helping them. On Sunday, Talib showed me just how wrong I was.

People are familiar with the sequence: Tennessee Titans wide receiver Harry Douglas takes Chris Harris out with a dirty hit, the team goes up in arms, and Talib sparks a brawl on the very next play.

Support for Talib’s act of revenge remains split, as a good deal believe he should have stayed out of it and are unhappy that the personal foul penalty cost Denver field position and eventually led to a Tennessee field goal.

I disagree.

There is a common trust amongst players in sports that you don’t take cheap shots that will jeopardize a player’s season or career. Specifically, in the NFL you do not take out your opponent at the knees for no reason.

What Douglas did was disgusting and cowardly. He denied wrongdoing after the game, which really just made what he did all the more worse. It was the worst thing I’ve seen in the NFL since Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict dismantled the Pittsburgh Steelers with cheap shots during last year’s playoffs.

In the NFL, there’s rarely a good time for retaliation. Sunday was the exception, when Talib went after Douglas. Talib plays with a lot of emotion and was aware of how upset a usually calm Harris was after the cheap shot. It’s a brotherhood with these players, and Talib was defending his brother.

I only played a little bit of high school football growing up. I was a running back and my best friend on the team was also a running back. With that said, I can tell you the most rage I’ve ever had while playing any sport was when cheap shots were put on me or my friend. A different type of fire burns within you when you know somebody just tried to take you or one of your closest teammates out.

I respect Talib for what he did. I respect Talib for his comments after the game when he said he was planning to go after Douglas. I honestly wish the brawl would have been worse because Douglas needed to be taught a lesson.

There is no place for the type of behavior Douglas displayed in the NFL or any sport. It’s players like this that make me cringe about choosing the profession I am in. Talib did the right thing and hopefully the NFL will do the right thing by suspending and fining Douglas. If you do not understand why Talib did what he did, you really do not understand sports. All Broncos fans should be praising Talib for doing the right thing even though it seemed wrong.

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