“Anyone who doesn’t want to be here, please
leave,” yelled Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis
after his team’s nationally televised 13-34 drubbing to the New
England Patriots in week four of the 2007 season.
Wide receiver Chad Johnson decided to take Lewis up on that
offer. But his efforts, and those of teams hoping to acquire the
talented receiver, were rebuffed. While most every team got better
during draft weekend, the Cincinnati Bengals, in failing to trade
Johnson, have all but resigned themselves to another year of
mediocrity.
With the recent release of number three receiver Chris Henry for
his never-ending off-the-field
issues and Johnson threatening a holdout, Cincinnati fans,
instead of asking “who dey think gonna beat the Bengals?”
have been reduced to asking “who dey gonna throw the ball
to next season?”
If the Bengals had taken the Washington Redskins’ offer for a
2008 first round pick and a conditional third/first rounder in
2009, they would’ve had more firepower to do what they ended up
doing anyway — load up on receivers.
Perhaps they could have moved up to secure Michigan wide
receiver Mario Manningham — a gamebreaker who specialized in
getting behind defenses — instead of good, but not game-changing
Florida wide receiver Andre Caldwell, who they picked two spots
later. ESPN notes that the three receivers drafted “have clean
pasts,” and references Lewis as saying the Bengals passed on other
receivers “with character issues” (i.e., probably Manningham).
But character issues didn’t prevent the Bengals from drafting
defensive tackle Jason Shirley with their fifth round pick. Shirley
was suspended three times during his senior year at Fresno State
and faced legal issues for drunk driving and driving on a suspended
license. So character doesn’t tell the full story.
And in a locker room full of characters and players with
character issues, Johnson, an eight-year veteran and five-time Pro
Bowler, could do more harm than good if he does report to the
team.
THE LARGER LESSON is that keeping around vocal players around who
want out is a losing game. Consider the Philadelphia Eagles.
Coming off a 13-3 season and an appearance in Super Bowl 39, the
Eagles appeared poised to make a fifth straight run to the NFC
Championship. Then wide receiver Terrell Owens decided, on the
basis of his self-proclaimed heroic Super Bowl performance of nine
returns for 122 yards, just four weeks after suffering an ankle
sprain, he was worth more than his paychecks indicated.
When Philly refused to renegotiate, Owens hit the media circuit
and attacked quarterback Donovan McNabb for getting winded in the
home stretch of the Super Bowl. At one point Owens said that the
Eagles would be undefeated if Brett Favre, and not McNabb, was
their quarterback. He was deactivated shortly thereafter, and
released in the offseason, but not before ripping the locker room
in two, with half supporting Owens and the other half McNabb.
In the end, Owens got the money he wanted — from division rival
Dallas Cowboys. The Eagles received no compensation — just a
locker room badly in need of rebuilding and a gaping hole at number
one receiver, which is yet to be filled.
Adding insult to injury, the Eagles watched the 2007 postseason
from home as every other NFC East team made the playoffs and the
New York Giants won the Super Bowl.
When it comes to disgruntled players, it’s always better to get
something than nothing.
THIS IS TRUE EVERYWHERE but especially in Cincinnati. Respected as
Owens was for his production, Johnson has his new teammates in
awe.
“I idolize him,” said Florida WR Andre Caldwell, the Bengals’
third round pick, to
ESPN. “That’s who I model my game after.”
And if Caldwell comes to model his attitude after Johnson’s, the
team could be in trouble. A player as gregarious and accomplished
as Johnson has the influence to take younger players under his wing
and spread ill will toward the organization.
Rather than sit out the 2008 season, it’s more likely Johnson
will report during week ten and log just enough time to gain a
credited season toward his pension. If the Bengals are on the brink
of the playoffs and Johnson gets them over the hump, he’ll be able
to cast himself as the savior of a perennially underachieving
franchise (as Owens did after Super Bowl 39, even though his team
lost).
If he returns and the Bengals falter (or have already faltered),
they’ll be blamed for allowing one player to distract from the
efforts of the other 52 guys who actually want to be there.
History shows that keeping a disgruntled player around for spite
ends up hurting the team more than the player. In an era where
character is king, the Bengals might be well-served to show some by
casting off a malcontent, rather than engaging in a game of chicken
with an individual who always saw himself as bigger than the team
anyway.
