Cincinnati Bungles Do It Again

The late Pittsburgh Steelers announcer Myron Cope was big on handing out nicknames.  Chuck Noll was the Emperor Chaz, the Minnesota Vikings were the Minny Vikes and so on.

Myron used to call the Cincinnati Bengals the Cincinnati Bungles.  It was all done in fun and the chatter that goes back and forth between fans of one team to another.

But the folks who run the Bengals franchise seem to go out of their way to make sure they remain the Bungles.  How else to understand the team’s re-signing of WR Chris Henry this week.

This is the same Chris Henry who has been arrested multiple times in  multiple states over the last three years.  This is the same Chris Henry who has already served a pair of NFL suspensions and faces another one to start the  ‘08 season.  This is the same Chris Henry who has brought shame upon the Bengals franchise on numerous occasions.

His return to the team on Tuesday makes a mockery of the franchise and the attempts by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to clean up the league.  At least the Tennessee Titans were smart enough to deal away another serial miscreant in Pacman Jones, a guy who is an even more talented player than Henry.

Listen, I’m all about second chances.  Our country, our society is built on the idea  of second chances.  A lot of my distant relatives moved here from Ireland and Easter Europe over 100 years ago looking for a second chance on life.  People make mistakes and they can overcome the ramifications and thrive in America.  Why do you think there are so many people trying to get into our country?

Chris Henry was given a second chance after his first two-game suspension in 2006.  He was given a third chance after his eight-game suspension in 2007.  Now, the Bengals want to give him a fourth chance after his upcoming four-game suspension in 2008.  Those are just the chances we know about; always with guys like Henry there are other stories that never see the light of day.

It is beyond comprehension.  When asked about the chances of Henry returning to the team back in July at the starting of training camp, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said:

“I’m not interested. I don’t think it would be productive for our football team. You have to be a productive part to be an NFL player, and there’s responsibilities to being an NFL player. It’s a privilege, it’s not a right. There’s a lot that comes with being an NFL football player.”

For more of a Bengals look at this situation, check this out.

Word out of Cincinnati is that Marvin Lewis did not make this call; that it came from team owner-GM Mike Brown.  What a ridiculous situation to put the head coach into?

Back in May, even Henry acknowledged that it would probably be better for his future if he played somewhere other than Cincinnati. 

“I think it would be better to move on to another city, a fresh start, new team, new environment,” Henry told Sporting News Radio, which was reported by the Dayton Daily News. “I’m really a good guy. Just got caught up in a few bad situations … I’m a father now. Got two kids, a little girl and a little boy. It ain’t all about me no more. It’s about my family …  It’s been kind of rough for me, you know, just the fact that these little incidents in Cincinnati have been kind of negative things for me, dealing with cops and things like that.”

Little incidents?   Here are the three big ones:

• Arrested in December ‘05 in Kentucky for speeding, possession marijuana and not having a valid driver license or auto insurance.
• Arrested in  January ‘06 in Florida on multiple gun charges, including aggravated assault.  At the time of the incident, he was wearing a Bengals jersey with his name and number on the back.
• Arrested in June ‘06 in Ohio for driving under the influence.  He tested at .092, while the state of Ohio limit is .012.

Those weren’t the only charges and offenses he was hit with over three years. There were other charges including assault that have floated out.  Henry was arrested and charged with assault in April ‘08. Prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges against him after his first trial resulted in a hung jury.

Now, the Bengals are bringing him back and guess what: they’ve said there is a no-tolerance policy now.  First misstep by Henry and he’s out the door.  And they expect us to believe this?

Supposedly this all came about because of the shoulder injury suffered by WR Chad Johnson last weekend.  Apparently the Bengals are concerned enough about Johnson’s shoulder that they wanted to add a talented receiver.  Johnson himself says the injury won’t cause him to miss the season opener.  Even if it did, Henry couldn’t play; he has to sit out the first four games.

So if Johnson comes back any time in the next six weeks, signing Henry will have been a nonsensical move.

I really can’t imagine why the Bengals would put themselves in this situation, but then they are in this situation because they are the Bengals.  Nobody in the league does things the way the Brown family does in operating the team.  They have a bare bones personnel operation and they rely on their assistant coaches to evaluate players in the off-season before the draft.

There can be no other reason for the long list of players they have selected over recent seasons who have come to the team with track records for causing problems at the college level.  In some cases I believe the Bengals simply didn’t know about the problems because they don’t have the personnel department to do in-depth reports on every aspect of a potential player’s life.

But there’s no investigation they have to do with Henry; they’ve lived through his travails since selecting him in the third round of the NFL Draft back in 2005.

In 35 games over three seasons, Henry caught 88 passes for 1,370 yards and 17 TDs.  Whether he can still perform at that level remains to be seen.

Over time, every team has to deal with bad guys wearing their uniform.  The Chiefs have had a few in recent history, guys like Bam Morris and Tamarick Vanover who both ended up doing prison time.  They’ve given second chances to players like Jared Allen and Eric Warfield who were arrested for drinking and driving. They tried to help guys with problems.  Sometimes they were successful.  Sometimes they were not.  When they were not, they cut the string. 

Not the Cincinnati Bengals.  That they will allow Chris Henry to perform in the tiger strips is just the latest example that they remain the Bungles.