Bengals to cut ties with Thurman

[flyer85]

about time.

Agent: Thurman is out
BY MARK CURNUTTE | MCURNUTTE@ENQUIRER.COM

After sticking with Odell Thurman through a two-year NFL suspension, the Bengals will announce by the end of business today that they are waiving the second-year linebacker.

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis called Safarrah Lawson, one of Thurman’s Atlanta-based representatives, and told him that the team has cut ties with Thurman, Lawson told The Enquirer this morning.

Thurman was in his native Monticello, Ga., last week to attend his grandmother’s funeral and take care of family matters, Lawson said. Thurman’s parents are dead, and the woman brought up Thurman, Lawson

Thurman missed three voluntary on-field practices. Lawson said Lewis told him that the Bengals needed Thurman in the building, that he wasn’t in the building and that they were going in a different direction.

“The support he got from the fans, from the people of Cincinnati, from Marvin Lewis and (team president) Mike Brown, this comes as a surprise,” Lawson told The Enquirer in a phone interview.

Thurman missed the past two seasons because of a league suspension for repeated violations of its substance abuse policy. He was suspended for all of the 2006 seasons following a September DUI arrest in the East End.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell then extended Thurman’s sentence to an entire season. The league then denied his application for reinstatement last July and said he could re-apply following the 2007 season. Thurman was allowed to begin working out with the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium in January and was reinstated this spring.

The Bengals had no immediate comment on Thurman, public relations director Jack Brennan said.

The Bengals earlier this spring, on April 3, released wide receiver Chris Henry following his fifth arrest in 28 months.

Thurman led the Bengals with 148 total tackles as a rookie in 2005 and tied a franchise rookie record with five interceptions. He started 15 of 16 regular season games and the team's wildcard playoff loss to the Steelers -- which would be the last game he would play in a Bengals uniform.

[Hoosier Red]

If you're going to stick with him for two years, why cut him now though.
He must not have been in the kind of shape they hope'd he'd be in.

[flyer85]

If you're going to stick with him for two years, why cut him now though.
He must not have been in the kind of shape they hope'd he'd be in.

reading the article I'm guessing it was missing the three practices. He obviously has a track record of not being able to be counted on.

[BuckeyeRedleg]

Stick a fork in another Marvin draft pick.

[freestyle55]

Hope that they explain why they did this, because it appears (I could be wrong) that he missed those voluntary sessions because of a family member being on their deathbed (and later actually passing)...seems like a cheap shot...again, I could be wrong...

[rotnoid]

Hope that they explain why they did this, because it appears (I could be wrong) that he missed those voluntary sessions because of a family member being on their deathbed (and later actually passing)...seems like a cheap shot...again, I could be wrong...

Not only is it a cheap shot, it's against the CBA. If that's the reason, and to this point I've seen nothing else as even a possible explanation, they could find themselves in some hotwater shoud Odell choose to pursue this.

[NorrisHopper30]

Surprised, I think it's a bad move.

[HeatherC1212]

There has to be more to this story. I think I'll wait until I hear more information before I decide how I feel about this move.

[Reds Fanatic]

If he truly did something wrong like Henry I would be for this move but right now it sounds like this all comes down to a dispute over how long he took off for his grandmothter's funeral. The funeral was last Monday and according to Thurman's representative the Bengals wanted him back soon after the funeral. Thurman had still not reported as of today so he was released. Hopefully there is more to this story because if this is true and they got rid of him because they did not like how long he was taking off it seems a really dumb reason to get rid of someone.

[GoReds33]

I agree that it's about time, but they should make a decision and stick to it. If they wait through all of this, what difference does three practices make?

[Oxilon]

This is too funny. We can speculate all we want but you can't ignore the fact that's he's only played in the NFL one entire season and has sat out the past two seasons. I'm going to go on a limb and say that he wasn't in the best shape and how are you suppose to hurdle over missing out on two NFL seasons when you aren't even in good shape. What a waste.

Looks like we're going to go with a Rivers/Jones/Brooks LB core. Looking at the depth at LB and I'd say we could easily find ourselves in a position like last season.

[CrackerJack]

Odell has missed "several weeks" of OTA's to be with his grandmother. The Bengals were fine with that and asked him to be at the next session after the funeral took place on May 12th. Perfectly reasonable.

They gave him a week post-funeral to show up (today) and he still didn't show.

You would think a guy with his life on the line and 2 years without a job would want to impress coaches and teammates by actually being here.

So good, he's gone, finally, he looked like absolute crap in the 2006 preseason when he was in better shape than he is now.

People really think he'd be better than that after no football for 2 seasons? He's completely unreliable.

As for Brooks, he still isn't healthy, and you wonder if he'll ever get on the field again here as well.

Sure glad they let Landon go FA, don't need proven players here at LB or anything.

This team is shaping up to be pretty weak this year so far.

[WMR]

I predict the Bengals have a 4-12 type season, Marvin gets the ax, and we get back on the crappy coaching carousel for the foreseeable future.

[WVRed]

I predict the Bengals have a 4-12 type season, Marvin gets the ax, and we get back on the crappy coaching carousel for the foreseeable future.

Disagree.

Even if we do have a horrible record, Mike Brown is extremely loyal. Like it or not, Marvin has turned around the Bengals and the team is in better shape than when Coslet or Lebeau ran the team.

I think the hot seat rumors are completely exaggerated. I'm not a fan of Marvin, but unless Cowher or possibly Billick showed an interest in coming to Cincinnati, I don't see Marvin going anywhere.

[Redhook]

Even if we do have a horrible record, Mike Brown is extremely loyal. Like it or not, Marvin has turned around the Bengals and the team is in better shape than when Coslet or Lebeau ran the team.

This town owes Marvin a lot of gratitude for turning the franchise around. I will never forget that.

But, the honeymoon is over. He has to be held accountable for the current roster and the mistakes in drafting. I doubt he's going anywhere, but I don't think he should be given a free pass for much longer from Mike Brown.

I think the hot seat rumors are completely exaggerated. I'm not a fan of Marvin, but unless Cowher or possibly Billick showed an interest in coming to Cincinnati, I don't see Marvin going anywhere.

Which stinks. Marvin is not a good head football coach. He's a good guy and could be a great assistant coach or GM, but he should not be the leader of an NFL team. I'm ready for a stronger-willed guy taking over the team. I doubt it'll happen, but I'm ready for a change.....again.