FWIW- Odell Thurman Rumors

[flyer85]

From Whitlock at ESPN

Back by popular demand is a heading-into-training-camp edition of my NFL Truths column:

10. Marvin Lewis' ego could be getting in the way of a terrific coaching career.

I've seen what's happening in Cincinnati happen before. A fantastic, grounded football coach is allowing his ego to run wild, and he's convinced himself that he can coach anybody, as long as the players are talented and sober on game day.

Lewis reminds me of Marty Schottenheimer during Marty's final two years in Kansas City. Desperate to win a Super Bowl and smothered by the belief he was the best coach in football, Schottenheimer turned the Chiefs' locker room into a halfway house for ex-cons, and the team absolutely imploded in 1998, earning the nickname "Bone, Thugs and Marty."

Lewis keeps preaching that "character counts," but the Cincinnati Trail Blazers are turning into a team filled with bad characters. Lewis is rationalizing everything, including Chad Johnson's playoff meltdown, the acquisition of three low-character rookies, Frostee Rucker, A.J. Nicholson and Ahmad Brooks, and troubled veterans Chris Henry and Odell Thurman.

Talk about a horrible offseason. Lewis has gone from being the toast of the NFL to being toasted on every talk show across the country. I like Lewis. And I used to really like Schottenheimer.

But Lewis' coddling of Johnson is the key indicator that the Cincinnati situation is going to get out of control this season. I see the Bengals headed back to the toilet this year and Lewis learning a very tough lesson. Bad characters count against you.

The Bengals win six games this year.

[Red Leader]

I was watching NFL Live last night and all of the analysts on that show (Stink, and Merrill Hoge in particular) thought that drafting and acquiring all of these questionable character guys were direct orders from somone above Marvin Lewis. They didn't think that these guys were guys that Marvin would bring in on his own. They were convinced that it was someone higher up in the organization telling Lewis that he'd work with these guys. They suggested that Lewis should cut Chris Henry immediately and let him be the fall guy. They suggested that they put Odell on a really short leash, and that verbiage be included in each of the new rookies contracts stating that if any off field issues come up, they will be cut immediately.

[flyer85]

I was watching NFL Live last night and all of the analysts on that show (Stink, and Merrill Hoge in particular) thought that drafting and acquiring all of these questionable character guys were direct orders from somone above Marvin Lewis. They didn't think that these guys were guys that Marvin would bring in on his own. They were convinced that it was someone higher up in the organization telling Lewis that he'd work with these guys.

If so it is even worse than Marvin making the "poor decisions" because it would be back to the "Old Bengals" ways and show that Marvin really isn't in charge which is not what we have been lead to believe in the past few years.

[Red Leader]

If so it is even worse than Marvin making the "poor decisions" because it would be back to the "Old Bengals" ways and show that Marvin really isn't in charge which is not what we have been lead to believe in the past few years.

That's what they were saying....

They said that if what they thought was true, the Bengals are in real trouble because there's no way for Marvin to control this team. If he attempts to do anything, the players aren't going to respect his authority (thinking Cartman even when I type that) because they'll know that the F.O has overruled what he has to say. They said that it would split the whole organization, and that if true, Mike Brown should be ashamed of himself for destroying what could be a very dominant team. The main reason they thought this was because they know how Mike Brown operated pre-Marvin, and they felt that he just couldn't keep his hand out of the cookie jar. I almost puked when they were talking about it. Makes sense, but man do I hope it isn't true or else this franchise is headed back down.

[Fil3232]

I don't understand how Chad Johnson gets pulled into this conversation. Maybe he got into an altercation at halftime of the playoff game, but it isn't like tempers weren't flaring in that game already. If anything, it shows CJ's ultra-competitiveness and desire to win.

This is a guy (CJ) that has never gotten in trouble with the law (as a Bengal) while tirelessly working behind the scenes to make himself one of the best receivers in the league. Yeah, he might go overboard with the celebrations (I love them) or talk too much between games (I love that too), but he has been instrumental in making Bengal football relevant again.

To hear a hack like Whitlock try to pin all these troubles back on CJ is laughable and absurd. If the Bengals only win 6 games this year it will be because #9's right knee isn't ready.

[flyer85]

Supposedly Marvin mentioned Thurman may not be in camp on Saturday (he can still practice and play in the preseason). Maybe the rumors are true.

[Johnny Footstool]

Jason Whitlock can smell opportunities for controversy from a mile away, and he never misses a chance to make "outrageous" comments and stir the pot.

[Benihana]

http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=5345

All signs indicate that Thurman is up to 240 pounds and is well enough to practice and that he has not shriveled up to a 190-pound addict as some cyberspace hysteria declared. It appears as if he’s getting ready to leave his Monticello, Ga., home Friday to make the trip here.


I hope this is true

[BUTLER REDSFAN]

posted this on a different thread but lapham on wlw at 1125 tonight said thurman was a no show at first day of camp

[Reds4Life]

posted this on a different thread but lapham on wlw at 1125 tonight said thurman was a no show at first day of camp

He requested a late arrival date to work on some "family problems" and was granted that request by Marvin.

[Oxilon]

This may have been the most frustrating offseason I have ever endured as a Bengals fan. And I've been through a good amount of them this past decade. Ever since Carson's injury in the Steelers game, it's been nothing but downhill. Absolutely frustrating.

[WVRed]

He requested a late arrival date to work on some "family problems" and was granted that request by Marvin.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...607300391/1066

GEORGETOWN, Ky. - On the first day of training camp, when Marvin Lewis wanted a fresh start to put a difficult offseason behind him, the Bengals coach said middle linebacker Odell Thurman might not play at all this year.

Thurman was suspended for four games by the NFL for violating its substance-abuse policy a second time. Ninth-year veteran Brian Simmons will play middle linebacker.

"We'll have someone play there for the season, so we won't worry about a guy that's not here or who's not a part of our football team right now," Lewis said of Thurman.

Pressed whether Thurman would show up and participate in training camp practice, which is allowed by the NFL despite the suspension, Lewis then said of the team's leading tackler in 2005: "We don't have to worry about that right now. It's a nebulous question. He's a non-factor."

One more question as to Thurman's whereabouts - he was in Georgia tending to family business - brought this response from Lewis: "If you want to be in charge of him, you're welcome."

On the day when quarterback Carson Palmer made an anticipated return to real practice - less than eight months after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery - the character questions continued to dog Lewis and the Bengals.

He and team president Mike Brown have dismissed the possibility that players' off-field troubles could affect the Bengals on the field.

As the defending AFC North champion Bengals reported to training camp Saturday morning at Georgetown College, players, too, didn't think some teammates' problems would hurt the team's performance.

But the spate of missteps definitely was on their minds.

"I'm a little upset at those guys somewhat because of the fact - I don't think a lot of it is big problems - but it is a problem," wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh said. "We have kind of good things going here, and they bring negative attention to the team. I don't think it will affect us, though.

"They're all young. I hope they can get it together, to be honest, because if things don't go the way we hope, that's what (the media) will point to as the reason why."

Fellow wide receiver Chris Henry has been the major offender. He was arrested four times from December through June.

As a rookie, Henry - who came to the Bengals with a reputation for on-field temper tantrums at West Virginia - was put under the watchful eyes of Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson as mentors.

"There is only so much straightening we can do," Johnson said Saturday morning when asked if teammates can positively affect a player's personal behavior. "We can't walk everybody by the hand. We can't live with them. We can only talk to them. What can we say? We're all grown. We can't be with them 24/7."

Though management, coaches and players say off-field issues won't affect the team, in reality they already have.

Henry is in danger of league suspension. He established himself as the team's No. 3 receiver behind Johnson and Houshmandzadeh last season when he had 31 catches, six for touchdowns, and was especially productive in the red zone.

The Bengals signed Antonio Chatman as a free agent and drafted two wide receivers, Reggie McNeal and Bennie Brazell.

Chatman, Tab Perry and fourth-year pro Kelley Washington are expected to compete for the No. 3 slot.

Chatman, Perry and Houshmandzadeh worked out with Palmer for three weeks in late June and early July at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Palmer and Henry, who said he tore his posterior cruciate ligament in the playoff loss to the Steelers, worked out together through the late winter and spring as they rehabbed their injuries. Henry was cleared Saturday to practice.

"I think a lot of guys who've had the problems are younger guys, and I think they've kind of figured out that you're not going to get away with much in this league," Palmer said. "You're going to get in trouble if you mess up in this league. Chris and Odell have had their names run through the media in a negative way, and I know they aren't going to like that."

Besides Henry's string of arrests, Thurman's suspension has drawn the most attention.

With Simmons moving from the weak-side to the middle linebacker spot, Landon Johnson will play outside opposite David Pollack.

"It's more a personal issue than a team issue," Simmons said of teammates' legal problems. "Of course, it makes the other guys look bad. Those are personal things they need to get worked out.

"Once we go out there (the first practice was Saturday night), it's going to be a moot point. It's going to be good for guys to get back to football."

Some of the veteran players have counseled the players who have gotten into trouble. But it's not a heavy-handed approach.

"You give advice when a guy wants to talk to you; you don't try to be overbearing, because at some point guys have got to be men and take care of their own business," lineman Willie Anderson said.

"Sometimes, you just put your hand over a guy and let him know you're there as a teammate."

Said free safety Madieu Williams: "The last thing they need is for somebody to beat them over the head. They know what happened. We all know what happened."

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com