Tony Banks On Dirk Nowitzki's Lady Friend: I Know That "Chick"

Former NFL QB Tony Banks says he remembers Crystal Taylor—Dirk Nowitzki's jailed "girlfriend"—because she tried to scam him almost ten years ago. He's got quite a tale to tell.

Banks—a former Michigan State Spartan who led the NFL in fumbles his rookie season—was surprised to see Taylor's picture in the paper, connected with another (ok, "a") famous athlete. "This is unbelievable," he said. "This is wild. I can't believe it's the same chick." He says he met Taylor back in 1997 when he was playing for the St. Louis Rams, although she went by several different alias, even back then. He claims that a friend put her in touch with him after Banks didn't hire the friend as his agent. (He "sicced" her on Banks as revenge.)

She called me and wanted to see me; I said, ‘No.' " Banks recalled. "She sent me her picture in the mail and she was just gorgeous. Me being a kid, thinking I was the best thing since sliced bread, I gave her a call and ended up dating her."

Banks said it was a decision he rued almost immediately, recalling "she showed her crazy [side] pretty early." What, specifically, did Banks remember about Taylor's actions and personality?

"Her being very emotional. I remember she camped out in front of my crib one time when I had another female friend in town. She (Taylor) wasn't too happy about that."

Soon, Banks said, Taylor began making harassing calls to him, his agent, his marketing team and even first-year Rams coach Dick Vermeil, "trying to run my name through the mud."

Banks claims that situation did not endear him to Vermeil and it certainly didn't help his career, because let's face it, he's no Kurt Warner. But then the team security got involved and that was that. But his story, if true, lends credence to the current theory that Nowitzki was a nice guy being played by this woman and that Dirk had no inkling of her criminal past when he took her into his home and (allegedly) asked her to marry him. She has been considered a fugitive since 2001 and was transferred to the Jefferson County jail today in order to face theft charges.

Now that Dirk's season is over he concentrate on this full time. Joy.

Former NFL QB says woman targeted him before Dirk Nowitzki [Dallas Morning News] Dirk Nowitzki: NBA star lover Crystal Taylor worked in strip bar, now in prison [Bild] Woman linked to NBA star now jailed in Jefferson County [KFDM]