His best friend, roommate and bodyguard, Willie Posey, lay gunned down on the dance floor in a pool of blood.

Worse, Posey was dead on Johnson’s behalf.

That night, while Johnson was dancing with a woman in the dimly-lit club, a local thug, a gang member named Michael Selvie, continued to bump into the then embattled Chicago Bear.

Eventually Posey stepped in, got into an argument, and a fistfight with Selvie. The fight continued even after security intervened and ended when Selvie pulled the trigger on a handgun.

With Posey lying in a pool of blood, and time seemingly at a standstill, a bevy of images must have flashed through Johnson’s mind.

Just 12 hours earlier, Johnson had apologized publicly to his Bears teammates and family after being charged with illegal possession of three assault rifles and three handguns along with a mere 550 rounds of ammunition. It was his third arrest in 18 months.

Being involved in a shooting is never a good way to express regret over illicit gun use.

Police had raided Johnson’s home with a search warrant after a neighbor complained of gunshots coming from Johnson’s backyard and pitbulls living in an outdoor cage.

After the raid, Posey was also charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana. He was also the one who took the blame for the shots being discharged.

Moreover, in 2006, the Bears were on their way to the Super Bowl.

Johnson, a defensive tackle, had just begun to establish himself as a force in the league. He had started 10 of 14 games and was part of a cadre of young Bears defensive linemen wreaking havoc on opposing teams and drawing comparisons to the Super Bowl Shufflin’ 1985 Bears.

On that fateful early morning, Johnson opted to leave his best friend bleeding, deserted the bar and initially told police he wasn’t even at the club.

On Friday, Selvie was sentenced to 55 years in prison.

In handing down the sentence, Joseph Claps made sure to note Johnson’s role in the shooting.

“Mr. Johnson has to live with his behavior that night, his failure to render aid to a person he described as his best friend…his cowardice and his attempts at self-preservation.”

Though he was able to play in the Super Bowl that season, Johnson was released by the Bears the next offseason when he was pulled over in Arizona for speeding and suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol, even though the latter charge did not stick.

Both teams were awarded seventh-round choices in the 2010 NFL Supplemental Draft, with the Bears selecting BYU running back Harvey Unga and the Cowboys taking Illinois defensive tackle Josh Price-Brent.

Unga is a 6-foot, 245-pound bruiser who’s the Cougars’ all-time leading rusher. He rushed for 3,455 yards and 36 TDs in three seasons after redshirting his freshman campaign due to injury.

Unga withdrew from the Mormon school in April for an honor code violation, which was reportedly having sex with another student, his girlfriend.

Players can apply for the supplemental draft if they missed the deadline for the NFL draft or have subsequent issues that affect their NCAA eligibility.

Brent-Price was declared academically ineligible for the upcoming season. The 6-2, 315-pounder recorded 29 tackles, including 3 sacks as a junior last season.

Last summer, he spent a month in jail for a drunk driving conviction.

According to the arrest affidavit, the former Texas Longhorn had been involved in a fight inside the bar and was being escorted out of the establishment when he punched an employee in the face.

Bar employee Bryan White told police that once outside, Benson complained that “all these white boys are ganging up on me and kicking me out,” then punched White in the face.

The 27-year-old Benson, who rushed for 1,251 yards and 6 TDs last season, could face further league discipline after this legal matter is dealt with.

Benson was the Bears fourth overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft but was released by the club in 2008 after a couple of ineffective seasons and two alcohol-related arrests. A grand jury, however, declined to indict him and the charges were dropped.

The 37-year-old receiver spent 11 of his 14 seasons with the Panthers and retires as the franchise leader in receptions (696), receiving yards (9,255) and as the co-leader in receiving TDs (50 with Steve Smith).

A two-time Pro Bowler, Muhammad was a second round pick out of Michigan State in 1996 who provided the perfect complement to Smith and the dangerous duo helped lead the Panthers to the Super Bowl in 2003.

Muhammad’s best statistical season was in 2004 when he caught 93 receptions for 1,405 yards and 16 TDs.

Muhammad signed as a free agent with Chicago in 2005 and spent three years with the Bears before returning to Carolina. He caught 53 passes for 581 yards and 1 TD last season and was not offered a new contract for 2010.

On her Facebook page, Andrea Bailey wrote;

OKAY, LET ME CLARIFY – THERE IS A STORY OF ADAM BEING DETAINED AT THE CANADIAN BORDER! TRUE! MY BABY HAPPENS TO HAVE THE SAME NAME AS ADAM “PACMAN” JONES AND IT WAS A MISTAKE!!!!! END OF STORY!!!!

The Orioles’ Jones, who started his own border skirmish with comments on his Twitter page when he was sent for further screening, wanted to put the incident behind him on Saturday. Baltimore is in Toronto for a 3-game set against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

“I don’t know if it’s him,” Jones said when asked about his mother’s claim. “We got the same name obviously, but I’m not going to say I was mistaken for him when I don’t know.”

“Basically, what happened, was they had the wrong person,” said Jones. “They thought I was somebody else. It all got situated but it took its time to get situated. It’s frustrating for me. I shouldn’t have put it out how I put it out. Now, we can all just get on with it. … Everything’s taken care of on my end.”

Adam (Pacman) Jones has had numerous brushes with the law, leading the league to suspend the cornerback for the entire 2007 season. He was out of football last season and is hoping to make a comeback with the Bengals.

The Orioles’ Jones inflamed his situation by taking a page out of Pacman’s book and posting the following comments on his Twitter page when he was detained.

“Canada is soooo f***ing wack. 4 of us have to go to the terminal for screening . . . such bull with damn country,” he wrote, before adding that he was, “detained by immigration in Canada for false accusations till 5 a.m. and appreciate someone from the team making sure we’re ok NOOOOOOTTTTT.”

Quoting sources, the Baltimore Sun identified two other Orioles as third baseman Miguel Tejada and third base coach Juan Samuel. With team president Andy McPhail not on the trip, Samuel would have filled the role of ‘someone from the team.’

The flight landed around 2:45 a.m.

Baseball players have been warned that extra screenings could take place this season according to Associated Press.

In a memo titled “immigration problems for players entering Canada,” Doyle Pryor, a union assistant general counsel, wrote, “Individuals who are not Canadian citizens may be detained at the border and, in certain cases may not be permitted to enter Canada at all, if they have any sort of past criminal record.”

Good thing the Bengals aren’t playing the Bills in Toronto this season. The Bills host the Bears at Rogers Centre on Nov. 7 for their one game in Canada in 2010.

The hall of fame former Cowboys quarterback is confident about the team’s ability to become the first team to play a Super Bowl in its stadium.

“I didn’t want to jinx them about the Super Bowl being here, but that would be fun,” Staubach said. “That would be extra special. And it could happen.”

“This is a really, really good football team and they have the capability,” Staubach said. “There are probably five or six teams in the NFL that can win it all. This is one of them. They can do it.”

Staubach’s comments are in stark contrast to those of hall of fame running back Gale Sayers, whose bad news Bears comments ignited a verbal maelstrom with linebacker Brian Urlacher.

Brian Urlacher vs. Gale Sayers, Mike Ditka, Dan Hampton et al

“(Jay) Cutler hasn’t done the job,” Sayers said. “Urlacher, I don’t know how good he’s going to be coming back. He’s 33 years old. They need a couple wide receivers, a couple defensive backs. They haven’t done a good job.

“If Lovie (Smith) doesn’t do it this year, I think he’s gone. He had a good team the Super Bowl year. Nothing came together for him the last couple years.”

Not only does Staubach believe in the modern-day Cowboys, he thinks quite highly of current QB Tony Romo as well, comparing his on-the-field aura with Troy Aikman’s.

“I’m a big Tony Romo fan,” Staubach said. “You’ve got that feeling. There’s a few quarterbacks that when they hit the field, you know something good is going to happen. When Troy was here, I knew it. I just felt it. I feel the same way about Tony. When he’s on that field, good things are going to happen.”

Of the top six-paid head coaches, Belichick also leads in regular season and playoff wins.

According to Forbes.com, the secretive Belichick, who dispenses information as if it pains him, will earn $7.5 million this season, effectively making him the highest paid Patriot.

For now

Quarterback Tom Brady is scheduled to earn $6.5 million (including a $3 million roster bonus) this season, the final year of his contract.

It’s a foregone conclusion that Brady’ll dwarf $7.5 mil when he re-signs.

Following Belichick are two coaches with new teams that got paid previous successes, Mike Shanahan and Pete Carroll, both of whom are scheduled to earn $7 million.

Shanahan signed a 5-year, $35 million contract to resurrect the Redskins. Owner Daniel Snyder has always been generous with free agents and coaches, having guaranteed $5 million annually to Joe Gibbs and Steve Spurrier and $3 million to neophyte Jim Zorn.

Seahawks Paul Allen is another generous benefactor of coaches, if not fickle, having paid Jim Mora Jr. $5 million before releasing him in favor of Carroll.

Jeff Fisher of the Titans is the league’s fourth-highest paid coach, expected to earn $5.75 million in 2010.

The league’s longest-tenured coach, Fisher was in trouble last season when his team started off 0-6 and he was publicly nudged by owner Bud Adams to replace starting QB Kerry Collins with Vince Young.

The team finished 8-8 but the sight of Fisher wearing a Peyton Manning jersey and joking he wanted to know how it felt to be a winner, won’t be easily forgotten.

The Bears’ Lovie Smith, in the final year of a 4-year, $22-million contract extension he signed following the Bears Super Bowl appearance, is the league’s fifth-highest paid coach at $5.5 million.

Rounding out the top six is New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, who won the Super Bowl and was rewarded with a contract that pays him $5.25 million annually.

All have a ways to go to reach the highest paid coach in sports, reported by Forbes as Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who earns $10.3 million per year.

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