05-03-2017, 09:50 AM
(05-03-2017, 09:28 AM)depthchart Wrote: The Media added Jeremy Hill's face to the lineup with Pac Man & Burfict on ESPN I think it was for some issues he had while in College. That surprised me since Jeremy has been a good guy since.
I get your point that most of the players are solid guys.
The Bengals had, however, had a few good years before Pac Man & Burfict's Playoff game meltdown where the Team image had been improving. Chad & TO were gone (more malcontents than Thugs) and the team had seemed to have turned over a new leaf for a stretch.
Mike Brown did have a chance to avoid the brunt of this by taking say Dalvin Cook instead, yet chose not to.
Cook has his own issues but no Mike Tyson style Video tape. Much less of a Hot potato.
It has been a Media Firestorm ever since whether Fair or Not and the word Thug & Thugs is what many of these Media types keep tossing around on ESPN, Fox, NFL Network, Radio etc. The NFL & NFL Network has become very Politically Correct of late, as has ESPN, so I don't see them letting go of this Bone any time soon.
As you point out, a lot of Good guys on this team have to deal with this image and distraction.
At age 81, Mike Brown may be "All In" on this team image for the rest of his life.
Well that's the first time I've seen/heard about any other player being mentioned outside of Pacman/Burfict. It seems the media can't decide what makes the Bengals "thugs". Is it that they take chances on players with questionable pasts? They use this as evidence, but it really shouldn't be held against them unless it backfires, and it hasn't backfired very often. Plus every team does this. Some as often as the Bengals...including the beloved Cowboys.
Is it that the Bengals have tons of arrests? Well, they don't. Not since 2006.
Is it that they're a dirty team? Well, they're not and we all know this.
I just think it's a narrative that was earned in 2006 and hasn't gone away since. Having perhaps the highest profile thug in the NFL on our team (Pacman) certainly doesn't help. He seems to be defining our team since the playoff meltdown.
The training, nutrition, medicine, fitness, playbooks and rules evolve. The athlete does not.
