Super Bowl champion and former All-Pro cornerback Aqib Talib is stepping away from his Thursday Night Football broadcasting duties on Amazon to spend time with his family, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Aqib Talib’s brother Yaqub Talib has been charged with the murder of youth football coach Michael Hickmon following a game. Aqib was present at the shooting and allegedly involved in the fight prior.
Just spoke to Aqib Talib. In light of the recent tragedy, he is going to step aside from his broadcasting duties at Amazon to spend time with his family.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 22, 2022
Video emerged of Yaqub Talib shooting Hickmon multiple times after a disagreement between the opposing coaching staffs of two youth football teams over calls made by the officials during a game.
Aqib Talib, according to reports, started the melee by confronting the officials and Hickmon.
“He threw the first punch and you see Mike trying to defend himself,” said Calvin Smith McKinney, Hickmon’s friend.
At this point, Aqib Talib hasn’t been charged with anything criminal, but perhaps those charges could be coming as police continue their investigation. Aiding and abetting, fleeing and eluding are all on the table. Video shows Aqib and Yaqub fleeing the scene.
Of course, if Aqib lies at any point during questioning and it is later uncovered, you can add obstruction as well.
The Talib brothers are known to be bullies and overtly aggressive in the Texas youth football scene, according to sources.
“If you’ve been around the youth football world you know the Talib guys don’t like to lose and they give everybody a hard time,” Dragon Elite Academy (Hickmon’s team) president Courtney Jackson said. “I would call it rambunctious and overly aggressive.
“In the youth football world if somebody is crying about a call you might say stop whining or quit crying. They don’t laugh those things off. It gets personal with them.
“You know how somebody can be a bully but they’re not necessarily a bully to everybody.”
For context, this tragic incident occurred during a nine and under scrimmage. Let that sink in. Not that pulling a gun on someone during an argument should be condoned in any portion of a civilized society. But a pee wee football scrimmage? What are we doing and thinking as a society?
Deciding to step away from Thursday Night Football might have been a formality. The executives at Amazon could’ve already spoken to Aqib through his representation and said they were going to suspend or fire him. A position like his likely has a morality clause in the contract; being involved in this incident could be a violation of that clause.
Aqib was expected to be part of the studio team, and provide his unique analysis and authenticity to the broadcast package.
It’s not clear where Aqib, who is a rising broadcast media star, will end up next. He will likely have to be cleared of any wrongdoing and not subject to any charges before another network decides to hire him.
Aqib is a five-time Pro Bowl player, two-time All-Pro who retired in 2020, after 12 seasons in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Rams and Miami Dolphins.
