Character issues continue to plague Bengals draft picks

[theHandpuppet]

Just as I predicted in an earlier thread, the Bengals rolled the dice on troubled players and it turns out these guys couldn't keep their noses clean even long enough to make it to preseason without getting into serious trouble with drugs and crime. It just makes me sick! The fans don't want it this way, but what can you do? Kudos to other teams in the league who woke up and decided they weren't going to squander their teams' chances by rewarding troubled players whose futures include stripes -- but not Bengals stripes.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=2521762&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos1

Raw talent in professional sports can be a dangerous tease.

The Bengals are just the latest franchise seduced. After more than a decade of futility, the Bengals became a player in the NFL, thanks to the vision of head coach Marvin Lewis. Lewis updated a franchise that fell ridiculously behind in the times. He weeded out malcontents. He brought in veterans from winning teams as leaders. His credibility around the sport has allowed Cincinnati to become more of a factor during free agency.

The Bengals won the AFC North last season with 11 victories and should be a regular playoff contender as long as they keep quarterback Carson Palmer healthy. But to get to the next level, the organization has fallen victim to the tease of raw talent. In the past 17 months, the Bengals used five draft choices -- including one second- and three third-rounders -- on players with questionable character, and some who have since had run-ins with the law.

The Bengals have rolled the dice with their drafting practices and there are plenty of unknowns. Will there be more suspensions in the next year? Can teammates count on these players in crunch time? When will the fans tire of the negative stories? How much of a distraction will future problems cause?

Wide receiver Chris Henry, drafted in 2005, has been arrested four times in the past year. Middle linebacker Odell Thurman, also an '05 draftee, was suspended for four games last week because of violations of the substance abuse policy. Their third-round choice this year, defensive end Frostee Rucker, was charged last month with two counts of spousal battery and vandalism. Fifth-round choice A.J. Nicholson, who had a history of off-field problems at Florida State, was charged last month with burglarizing the apartment of a former teammate.

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[northzax]

1. see what happens when you draft from the 'gifted and talented' pool?

it's only to be expected.

ok, I'm done now.

[MessiahRp]

2. If I'm the Bengals I'm cutting three of those guys...

All but Thurman are easily expendable. Thurman on the other hand while completely talented, is on the verge of having to fight for his job. They used a 3rd rounder next year to pick up another LB from the Supplemental draft and they are already stocked in that area. A lot of Bengals coaches liked Thurman's raw talent but thought he was out of position on a lot of plays...

His days could be numbered also.

Rp

[theHandpuppet]

3. From the Cincinnati Enquirer

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060716/COL04/607160395/1066/SPT02

Bengals on troublesome path
Character has become an issue for team after off-field problems
ANALYSIS BY MARK CURNUTTE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

With five players experiencing recent or ongoing legal problems or league sanctions, the Bengals have made the 2005 Minnesota Vikings or the Raiders - pick a year - look like members of your mother's bridge club.

Bengals second-year wide receiver Chris Henry alone has gotten into as much off-field trouble as would an entire roster of NFL players. He has been arrested four times in three states since December.

The Bengals' collective rap sheet has been a hot topic from coast to coast since Thursday, when a source told The Enquirer that linebacker Odell Thurman would be suspended for four games, and the Bengals selected another troubled linebacker, Ahmad Brooks, in the supplemental draft. (The Bengals gave up their third-round pick in the 2007 draft to get Brooks, so he doesn't come for free.)

The question: Will the collection of helmeted hooligans derail attempts to turn the Bengals into a perennial playoff team?

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[theHandpuppet]

4. Scathing commentary from the Cincy Enquirer

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060719/COL03/607190342/1066/SPT02

Looking for a few bad men
Character matters to Bengals, except, er, when it doesn't

The Cincinnati Bengals can make "Jailhouse Rock" their theme song, for all I care. If there's a 270-pound outside 'backer that can bench 450 and run a 4.4 40, sign him up. So what if he's on work release? It's not a game for gentlemen.

On Sundays, these people commit acts upon each other that in polite society would get them jailed. To expect all of them to be saints off the field and muggers on it is Tooth Fairy stuff. The shock isn't that so many football players have violence issues off the field. It's that more do not.

So bring 'em on. Give us your thieves, your felons, your smokers of herb. Allegedly. Round up your pistol-packin' posses. Call their agents. Call their probation officers. Call their mothers. Just call. In the end, it isn't about winning with dignity or class. It's just about winning. It's about finding tough-guy players who, when a Steeler or Raven busts them in their mouths, will bust back twice as hard. Guys like Odell Thurman.

Or Ahmad Brooks, the linebacker who was kicked off the team at the University of Virginia for failing a bunch of drug tests, Bengals owner Mike Brown offers, "We are aware of no pending allegations against Ahmad."

Fine. Thank you. We'll all sleep better now. Go Bengals....

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[maxsolomon]

5. win, and all is forgiven

the 'role model for the kids' line we expect players to toe is BS we tell ourselves so we don't feel ashamed wasting our $$$ rooting for millionaires with peanut brains.

pane et circenses.