More On Chester v. Erasmus

Seems Chester Taylor did more than merely threaten Erasmus James with a chair during their little scuffle Wednesday after practice – he actually picked the chair up and threw it, but ended up hitting his pal Bryant McKinnie instead of the intended target. Apparently, this isn’t the first time Chester has gotten into a fight with a teammate that ended in an item normally used for sitting being adopted as a projectile. Here’s an account, via ProFootballTalk, of an incident that took place during Chester’s years as Jamal Lewis’s understudy in Baltimore:

"Taylor and former Ravens tackle Orlando “Zeus” Brown got into a scrum the night before a game in 2004. Taylor, we’re told, was bragging about his relationship with one of Brown’s friends. Brown suggested that Taylor knock it off, and Taylor opted to run his mouth at the oversized lineman. The jawing between the two of them continued, and a fight broke loose. And the chair seems to be Taylor’s weapon of choice. Just as he reportedly threw a chair at James earlier this week, the source says that Taylor threw a chair at Brown. Taylor had a reputation for being erratic and unpredictable in Baltimore, and it’s apparently one of the reasons that the team didn’t try to re-sign him when he qualified for unrestricted free agency. “Taylor’s crazy,” said the source. “He’s a talented guy, but he’s . . . real mouthy.”"

I have to confess – when I first read about this, I just jumped to the conclusion that it was Erasmus’s fault somehow. I can’t remember ever hearing anything like this about Chester before, but apparently the guy does have some history of jerkiness. So, it’s possible that he deserved to get socked in the jaw.

This new knowledge of Chester’s attitude problems casts the Adrian Peterson drafting in a new light too, doesn’t it? Before it was, “Adrian is such a great player that we can’t pass on him, even though we have a solid back in Chester Taylor.” But now it’s, “Chester Taylor’s a tad erratic. Let’s get this young stud Peterson in here and then if Chester acts up we can just dump him.” Funny, but when we heard trade-rumors about the Bucs and Chester we just dismissed them – but should we have?