02-08-2017, 04:28 AM
(02-08-2017, 12:00 AM)Whatever Wrote: Benson got the axe because he didn't want to split carries. Marvin even says as much in the article.
The main issues for the football team are simple. Is the player a me first player or a team first player? Is he a repeat offender that is likely to be a distraction? The first can only really be answered in interviews. The second can only be answered over time.
Furthermore, it's not like Marvin's renewed commitment to high character guys, at least per the article, have netted the team a playoff win, let alone an AFC title or Super Bowl win. It would be a lot easier to go with his reasoning if we weren't pretty much back in the same boat we were in when he changed his philosophy.
The big issue with the Bengals hasn't really so much been rolling the dice on guys with character red flags. Every team in the league does it. It's guys like Henry and Jones that they have held on to long after they have proven themselves to be problems. Again, a low draft pick with a low dollar figure is easy to get out from under.
The playoff loss is on a lot of people. Jones is part of that, but so is Burfict for picking a terrible time to get some payback, Hill for fumbling, Marvin for not just taking three knees and kicking the FG, and the entire offense for its pathetic play for 3 quarters.
What Mixon did was worse from a moral than failing a drug test, but a failed marijuana test would concern me more. Reason being, there's a lot more guys that are repeat offenders for weed than domestic violence. Guys like Josh Gordon and LeVeon Bell have been big distractions for their teams while they smoke themselves out of the league.
Let's make it simple: were the Bengals more successful before or after the 2010 reset? After. Lewis credits that, in large part, to a new philosophy of avoiding the head cases. But, the few he has taken a chance on have sabotaged the team's success.
The marijuana issue is a whole can of worms onto itself, but I'm more tolerant of smoking weed. Reason being the narcotics and other medications team doctors use are just as harmful or worse than marijuana. Opioid abuse is an epidemic. I don't think cannabis should be any more illegal than oxycodone and the fact pot is a Schedule I and oxy is a Schedule II is laughable. But, it is against the rules and the law so players have to abide by those rules.
Domestic abuse is a pattern. It isn't a one and done thing. If a man is stupid enough to publicly punch a woman breaking four facial bones which required reconstructive surgery because she barely slapped him, I guarantee there are other skeletons in that closet not caught on video. Mixon tried to physically intimidate a female parking attendant over a parking ticket after he knew he was under a microscope. Because he obviously didn't learn anything from the court ordered anger management classes and he is the type of person who believes it is okay to intimidate or abuse those he perceives as weaker. I don't give a shit how well he runs the football. I wouldn't draft him in any round. He's a PR time bomb. There are plenty of talented RBs in this draft class.
