Ask Jim Owczarski

[*rfaulk34*]

(10-25-2017, 11:53 PM)jowczarski Wrote: @rfaulk34 - Follow up question. How much could the 'hasn't lost the locker room' be, that players know they're entrenched on this team. It takes an awful lot for a guy to get benched or released, in most cases.

If you have such a good situation, why rock the boat (as far as how you interact with the coach) and end up jeopardizing your career?

I do believe Adam Jones when he said Lewis saved his life. I do believe Burfict when he says he owes his career to Lewis (undrafted FA, Bengals ONLY team to call him). After that, I don’t know … I think all that other stuff that happens with them on or off the field is part of the package. As for the loyalty factor, that is legitimate. Look at the Hill situation. Plays 8 snaps a game but is still the starter. Peko and Maualuga played more than they should have, probably. Clearly Lewis feels he gets more out of them doing that than the other way.

But anyone with a bit of self-awareness has to see just how poor of an NFL coach he is.

Actually, in NFL circles, Lewis is very well respected. And I can tell you – in previewing the Buffalo game, those people couldn’t believe Lewis would be hated here. They haven’t been to the playoffs since 1999 and have had 10 head coaches since then. And I’m sure we’ll hear the same from Chicago people (no playoffs and one season with a winning record since 2010). And of course Cleveland fans think every fan in Cincinnati is insane. So, it’s all about perspective.
If/when Lewis moves on from Cincinnati, he’ll easily find a job with the league, or another team doing something. Head coaching? Maybe. Hard to say on that one. But he likes doing it.

Wouldn't you like doing something you get paid ridiculous amounts of money to do, despite being decidedly mediocre and unable to win in any really meaningful way?

The only thing you have to do is keep your head buried in the sand (not read or listen to ANY media) and hope that some day...possibly decades in the future if you're able to stay around that long...you will finally win that single, elusive playoff game by sheer luck and the law of large numbers, without ever doing anything different--without being capable of realizing you're not capable. 

I've never wished i could be another man, but i'd give years off the end of my life if i could be you for 1 hour during a press conference so i could ask those idiots how they can be so clueless to their ineptness over the span of 15 and 26 years respectively. Or, at least, tell them to finally stop blowing smoke up fan's asses and just say "we don't give a shit what fans think. we will do it our way regardless".