Fallout of a Regime Change

[Whatever]

(10-25-2021, 05:13 PM)Stewy Wrote: I'm trying not to be negative or repetitive here, as we have individually spoken about this subject in regard to Geno, WJ3, AJ and Dunlap.   Most of the angst is toward Dunlap and WJ3 and to a lesser extent AJ.  But that's not really what this thread is about.

Regime changes (not just in sports, but any industry) can cause mental and emotional issues.  Especially if the regime has been in place a long long time.  There has been a way of doing things.  It isn't JUST about manning up and being a professional, it can be devastating mentally to have that much change at once.  Especially in the case of a sports team where every one if your bosses could get replaced at the same time.

My parallel is that my 2nd and 3rd lvl bosses both just changed out, which means people making decisions about my performance do not know me at all.  We are a performance based industry so it is stressful to change bosses often (every 3 years in my company), that then have to get to know you and your performance, strengths and needs for improvement.  Luckily in my case, my first level boss has stayed the same AND with the regime change no one is asking me to do my job in a different way.  But it is still stressful.

Now parallel that to the Bengals situation.  You were drafted by a person that is gone, asked to play a particular way and you excelled in that environment.  Now EVERY person who valued you is gone.  You are then asked to play in a different way, that may or may not play to your strengths, but certainly is entirely different.  So much change, not only in environment but in how you are asked to do your job (especially when you have played at a pro-bowl level in that job), can be emotionally and mentally draining.

I'm not making excuses for any of them.  I think it was clear that several of them behaved unprofessionally or like children.  The bottom line is that sometimes, change is good for all.  Carlos just couldn't get beyond the affects of the regime change and he needed to go for his good and the good of the team.  WJ3 was an idiot that became toxic.  AJ may or may not have quit last year.  Geno behaved with professionalism.  

Bottom line as I see it, the regime change is complete, and there are few to none that are left to dwell on the past.  But the emotional and mental cost of the regime change on the players shouldn't be overlooked when compared to their actions.  Some could have just conducted themselves better.

p.s. - Huber doesn't count as leftover from the previous regime because Simmons is still here.  

There are parallels, but huge differences.  When a typical person goes through a regime change at work, a lot of the stress comes from losing their jobs and not being able to feed their families.  The guys we had issues with here had all been making set for life type money for years.

My personal feeling was that the core group had become complacent.  Marvin had been the HC too long and had essentially just kept promoting from within and sticking with the same systems Gruden and Zimmer ran.  Zac and his staff asked them to do different things and a lot of the old guard rebelled.  Marvin himself said that the players got Teryl Austin fired.  Many of them likely felt that by acting out they could get Zac fired.

At the end of the day, they are still professional athletes and they have a responsibility to try their best as long as the checks keep clearing.  I feel a lot of the guys did.  Some didn't, Dunlap and AJ chiefly among them.  They were still great players for the Bengals, but my opinion of them will forever be colored by their poor conduct at the end.