By Ryan Mayer, CBS Local Sports

IK Enemkpali’s name has become a household one this week in the aftermath of the locker room altercation that ended with him breaking Jets QB Geno Smith’s jaw. Enemkpali was picked up by former Jets head coach and current Buffalo Bills head man Rex Ryan on Wednesday. Ryan defended the pick-up according to Peter Kings MMQB site in a conversation with GM Doug Whaley:

“All he does is shut his mouth and work,” Ryan told Whaley. “I’ll stand on the table for the guy.” “Coach, if you say that, if you believe in him like that,” Whaley replied, “I got your back.”

The Bills defensive coordinator, Dennis Thurman, had a more entertaining way of explaining why the Bills gave the young man a chance. He recounted a time when he was young and did something dumb.

“Why do young people do some of the things that they do?” Thurman asked. “I got into trouble, too. Hell, I walked into a bank one time, and I handed the teller a note saying, ‘What would you do if I held up the bank?’ She thought I was holding up the bank, and I went to jail for about eight hours.”

Wait, what?

Did the Bills defensive coordinator just admit to holding up a bank? There are so many questions to be asked about this situation, thankfully the same MMQB article explains the facts:

“This was in the spring of 1980, when Thurman had just finished his second season as a defensive back with the Dallas Cowboys. He was back home in Southern California, and went to a local bank branch with a friend, who was paying Thurman back money he had borrowed. Newspaper clips from the time offer varying accounts of what exactly the note Thurman wrote to the teller said—one ended with, “Signed, Robber”—but Thurman was taken into custody and interrogated for hours by local police and the FBI.”

Okay. That’s not the same as punching a dude. Yeah, you can get charged for a crime for punching someone, but 90% of the time it doesn’t qualify as a felony. Holding up a bank would tend to fall in that category. All’s well that ends well I guess considering that Thurman was able to convince the authorities it was just a prank. Thurman certainly has a story to one up Enemkpali’s to say the least.

Ryan Mayer is an Associate Producer for CBS Local Sports. Ryan lives in NY but comes from Philly and life as a Philly sports fan has made him cynical. Anywhere sports are being discussed, that’s where you’ll find him. Agree/Disagree? Thoughts, comments, complaints? Email or tweet him.