9 arrests and counting...

[chiefwahoo]

This team is a joke. I hate them and their inbred hillbilly fans. So with each new arrest I will add to this thread. Should make for a fun offseason.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2740990

The arrest of Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Johnathan Joseph has members of the team angry, embarrassed and concerned that guilt by association has ruined public perception of the team.

Joseph was arrested early Monday and charged with marijuana possession. He's the ninth member of the team to be arrested since Jan. 1, 2006.

The team's front office did not comment on the latest arrest, saying its policy is to not comment on pending legal matters. But in his end-of-season news conference, coach Marvin Lewis said he would be far stricter with the team in 2007.

Defensive tackle John Thornton and other Bengals told the Cincinnati Enquirer that the arrests are dragging the team down. Everyone in the locker room is affected, he said.

"Willie [Anderson], Carson [Palmer], John Thornton, the guys who do things right, have been forced to answer for the guys who decided not to do the right thing," linebacker Brian Simmons told the newspaper. "The perception of the team across the country is bad. It's as if it's going around like the plague."

"If it doesn't stop, we're not going to have any fans left, and I don't blame them. It's ridiculous," Palmer said in comments posted on the team Web site.

"We can't get through a month without getting a guy arrested. It happens on another team and they're shocked and surprised to hear about it," Palmer said. "With us, you hear about it and it doesn't surprise you and you just shake your head and say, 'Another one,' " he said.

Anderson told the Enquirer he and other veterans warned their teammates not to become "No. 9 or No. 10," in reference to becoming the ninth or 10th Bengals player arrested since the start of 2006.

"The thing that is kind of scary is that guys should be feeling like, 'I should make sure not to become No. 9 or No. 10,' " Anderson told the newspaper.

"It's kind of become a joke out here, 'Who will be the next Bengal,' " Anderson told the Enquirer. "I told guys that you are going to look really bad if you are the next guy. I said they can't even put themselves in that position."

Thornton told the Enquirer that after Deltha O'Neal's DUI arrest on Dec. 9, Cincinnati Police met with the team for an educational session on drunken driving enforcement. Thornton said the session opened his eyes.

"Even big guys can blow a 0.08 after having just three or four beers with dinner. You don't need to feel drunk to be drunk," said Thornton, who tips the scales at 295 pounds.

That convinced Thornton to change the way he drinks in social settings, he told the newspaper.

"I won't drink when I'm out unless I have a driver or someone else is [the designated driver]," he said. "Guys have to be in control."

 

[cdt]

If they can keep this up we might get a pair of wins next year by default..

 

[Deadlock]

If they can keep this up we might get a pair of wins next year by default..

:chuckles: We can only dream.

 

[chiefwahoo]

Some more good press today:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2742412

CINCINNATI -- Chris Henry got a judge's lecture and a two-day jail sentence after settling the last of his four court cases Thursday, putting the Cincinnati Bengals receiver in line for another suspension from the NFL.

Henry drew a two-game suspension this season for violating the league's conduct and substance abuse policies, and could get a harsher punishment for his latest convictions.

"We are reviewing this and will take appropriate disciplinary action in due course," spokesman Steve Alic said.

Henry has become the symbol of Cincinnati's extensive off-field problems -- nine players arrested in the last nine months, two of them suspended by the league during the season. Henry had four arrests in the last 14 months.

He avoided jail time in the first three cases, but was taken to the Kenton County Jail in northern Kentucky on Thursday after a judge accepted his guilty plea for letting minors drink in a hotel room he rented last spring.

"You embarrassed yourself," Kenton County District Judge Greg Grothaus told Henry. "You embarrassed a lot of people, teammates, friends and family, the city, the fans and myself."

Grothaus gave Henry a 90-day sentence, and suspended all but two days. Prosecutor Ken Easterling wanted Henry to spend some time in jail.

"Looking at his history and the amount of times he's gone before other courts and not gotten jail time, the reason we sought jail time was to send a very clear message to him that this is going to be the response every time you get in trouble in our community," Easterling said. "So I hope, as the judge indicated, that he gets the message."

When the Bengals' season ended with an 8-8 mark, coach Marvin Lewis sent the message that he was cracking down on player misconduct. Since then, cornerback Johnathan Joseph has been arrested and charged with possession of marijuana.

Six of the Bengals' picks from the last two drafts have been charged with crimes.

"It's good that this case involving Chris has been resolved," Lewis said in a statement. "Now Chris must continue to strive to mature and grow both as a player and as a person."

In the last two days, Henry accepted plea agreements to end the last two court cases against him.

In neighboring Clermont County, he entered a guilty plea on Wednesday to reckless operation of a vehicle. He was arrested last June on a drunken-driving charge, but the results of a breath test were thrown out because the machine was improperly calibrated. Henry had registered 0.092 on the blood-alcohol test, above the state's legal limit of 0.08 percent.

He was fined $250, given a suspended 30-day jail sentence and prohibited from using alcohol or drugs as part of the agreement. He will have to take random drug tests.

Henry's lawyer, Bob Lotz, declined to comment. Clermont County prosecutor Don White said the plea agreement was offered some time ago.

"His attorney is trying to put everything together, get everything taken care of at one time," White said.

On Thursday, Henry settled the case involving underaged drinking. He originally was charged with three counts of unlawful transactions with a minor.

Police said he brought alcohol for three females -- ages 18, 16 and 15 -- in a Covington, Ky., motel room on April 29. One of the three, Monica Beamon, 18, was charged with murder in Cincinnati last September.

Witnesses said Henry was not drinking and did not buy the alcohol. He pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor violation of a city ordinance commonly referred to as a "keg law."

As part of his sentence, Henry has to give speeches to high school and middle school students in the area.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been troubled by the Bengals' series of arrests. When he visited the team last September, he reminded them of their responsibility to stay out of trouble.

A few days later, linebacker Odell Thurman was arrested on a drunken-driving charge, and Henry was a passenger. Thurman, already serving a four-game suspension for skipping a drug test, had the punishment extended to the full season.

Henry wasn't charged in that matter, but got a two-game suspension for his marijuana and weapon cases that were already settled. He could receive a longer suspension for the two latest convictions.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press