Trouble with the Bengles

[slat1]

CHAD TOOK SWING AT MARVIN



A league source tells us that multiple members of the Cincinnati Bengals witnessed a troubling incident as the team prepared to take the field for the second half of Sunday's playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.



Per the source, the last few minutes of intermission were ticking away, when the players were startled by the sight and sound of a helmet slamming against the glass pane of the training room door. Inside, receiver Chad Johnson and receivers coach Hue Jackson were engaged in an altercation. At one point, Johnson was seen holding Jackson in a headlock.



Coach Marvin Lewis entered the training room to intervene, and Johnson (per the source) took a swing at him.



Eventually, receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh broke up the skirmish, within a minute or so of the team exiting the locker room for the second half.



On Monday, several members of the team pointed to the Johnson-Jackson-Lewis incident as the catalyst for the loss of a 17-14 halftime lead and, ultimately, a 31-17 defeat.



Word is that Johnson was unhappy with the lack of balls thrown to him in the first half. A total of three passes came his way, with two completions.

In the second half, another three passes were thrown to Johnson, with only two more completions. For the game, Johnson had four catches for 59 yards.



The incident could have an even more lasting impact on the team than quarterback Carson Palmer's torn ACL and MCL. Some players, we're told, don't want to see Johnson back next year, and there's a belief that the team will be less inclined to give in to Johnson's request for a hefty restructuring of a contract that expires after the 2009 season.



So the Chad Johnson saga very well could evolve into the 2006 version of the Terrell Owens fiasco.



If so, it's very bad news for a franchise that otherwise looked to have a very bright future

 

[KillahBee]

This must be a credible source since they called halftime "intermission".

you should look somewhere other than Teen Cosmo for your sports news playa

 

[slat1]

This must be a credible source since they called halftime "intermission".

you should look somewhere other than Teen Cosmo for your sports news playa

Keep an eye on the news. This one should break today or tomorrow. It has been confirmed.

 

[gotmilk]

Welcome to Foxboro Mr. Johnson.

 

[Lestat]

this has got to be a joke right?

 

[silverfish]

Let the excuses start flying.

 

[i-Supplements]

Living in Cincinnati, I have not heard one bit of this news. I just went to the Bengals website, nad there is no news there either. I sure hope this untrue.

 

[epstropes]

I live in Cincy as well, I haven't heard a word about this. I highly doubt it's true! Okay I want to beleive it's highly unlikey!

As for excuses flying, let's try the one about the cheap a$$ late hit Carson took clearly after the ball had been thrown!!!

 

[slat1]

I got it from this site:

www.profootballtalk.com

They are usually a few days ahead of the media. Infact ESPN and other media groups like that frequent their site to get stories.
It should get interesting!

 

[i-Supplements]

That is messed up if it is true.

 

[ass_face]

That is messed up if it is true.

Sorry El Dandy Could not resist...

 

[i-Supplements]

Chad is holding a press conference at 7pm at the PBS tonight. He is saying all the rumors are completely false. Bengals PR people say they will not comment on rumors.

 

[i-Supplements]

Damn Assface, you did'nt have to go there. I did like the Barney GIF though.

 

[ass_face]

Damn Assface, you did'nt have to go there. I did like the Barney GIF though.

It's not me... its the boys at Stillers.com. Those guys are brutal.

 

[i-Supplements]

It's not me... its the boys at Stillers.com. Those guys are brutal.

Expected from Squealer fans...lol!

 

[Spartacus]

I got it from this site:

www.profootballtalk.com

They are usually a few days ahead of the media. Infact ESPN and other media groups like that frequent their site to get stories.
It should get interesting!

hell going to that site was like trying to pick up a full blitz
and I got anti this and anti that

 

[slat1]

Chad denies halftime row
Radio report contradicts WR

By Mark Curnutte
Enquirer staff writer



The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger

Said Chad Johnson: "There's never been a confrontation ... with a coach."

Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson held a press conference Tuesday night to deny an Internet story that claimed he was involved in an altercation with Bengals coaches Sunday.

Calling the story "ridiculous," Johnson said he had nothing but respect for the fans, the media, and especially his coaches.

"There's never been a confrontation, ever, and especially with a coach," Johnson said.

Referring to injured Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, who underwent surgery Tuesday afternoon, Johnson said: "Carson's out. Now somebody's trying to put Chad out. It's not fair."

The press conference was the result of a story that was posted on the Web site profootballtalk.com. The story claimed Johnson was involved in a locker-room altercation with receivers coach Hue Jackson and head coach Marvin Lewis during halftime of Sunday's Bengals-Steelers game.

Earlier today, on Lance McAlister's sports talk radio show on WSAI-AM (1360), Bengals radio analyst Dave Lapham said a player on the Bengals' offense confirmed that a confrontation did occur at halftime between Johnson and members of the coaching staff. Lapham also said on the radio that more than one defensive player told him that they heard a disturbance.

Lapham said the players, who did not want to be identified, told him, "Just basically that ... definitely (something) went down."

" 'We're telling you, this is not B.S.,' " Lapham said players told him.

Jackson did not return a message left on his office phone at Paul Brown Stadium. Nor did Lewis return a message left on his phone.

Johnson's news conference, held in a Paul Brown Stadium hallway between the team's locker room and tunnel to the field, had a surreal feel. Television light shined bright into Johnson's face. Local TV station Channel 12 carried the news conference live.

"It's false," Johnson said. "None of this is true. I've never had problems on or off the field, in five years (with the Bengals)."

Mike Florio, editor of profootballtalk.com, told The Enquirer that the site is sticking by its story.

"We greatly respect Chad Johnson's abilities and passion for the game, and we realize that it is not in his interests to admit publicly to the behavior that multiple other people witnessed," Florio said Tuesday night in response to Johnson's denial. "We stand by our report. Some of his teammates are concerned that the incident cost the Bengals a chance to advance in the playoffs, and they are talking about the matter privately because they do not want to experience a similar situation in the postseason next year."

The news conference was held in the hallway, not the normal interview room, because it was not an official Bengals event.

"We don't comment on rumors," Bengals public relations director Jack Brennan said. "Marvin respected Chad's desire to have his say."

Johnson also said Tuesday that after his in-game and postgame outbursts at Jacksonville Oct. 9 that he could improve his game by learning how not to get so emotional.

Neither Lewis nor Jackson attended.

Earlier today, Johnson told The Enquirer: "(The story) sounds like drama. At halftime, I was getting an IV. Nothing happened. Why don't you talk to the coaches, they're all down there today."

The Bengals led 17-14 at halftime of Sunday's game but lost 31-17 in the wild-card game.

The Web site reported that Johnson was unhappy about the lack of passes thrown to him - three, with two completions in the first half. Johnson caught two of the three attempts in his direction in the second half to finish with four receptions for 59 yards.

In postgame interviews Sunday, defensive tackle John Thornton was among the handful of players who talked in general about the lack of cohesion and that the team concept was lost and must be regained.

Thornton, reached Tuesday morning, said, "I can't confirm or deny anything that happened in the locker room."

Thornton did say Sunday that the issue did not involve rookie players.

In his postgame comments Sunday, Lewis alluded, generally, to a problem, saying, "We came in here as a football team and we need to leave out of here as a football team and understand that it's about working through the tough times. You work through the critical points in the game and do you job."

 

[harmonica]

Many good WR's complain that they don't get the ball enough. Swinging at a coach though is crazy.......if he did it that is.

 

[Quadsweeps Sister]

It just keeps getting more sad by the minute. Just when things were looking up too. [sad]

 

[i-Supplements]

It just keeps getting more sad by the minute. Just when things were looking up too. [sad]

Oh come on, it still all rumors. Don't jump off the bandwagon now.

 

[ass_face]

It just keeps getting more sad by the minute. Just when things were looking up too. [sad]

Bengals will be fine... Palmer will be back... Chris Henry looks like a stud to me at WR, The defense will get better. Chad was just a little miffed because Ike Taylor shut him down all year.

Hell you guys might be 14-2 next year (both losses to the Steelers )

 

[slat1]

MORE CORROBORATION OF JOHNSON FIGHT



As Bengals receiver Chad Johnson continues to deny that he engaged in a locker room brouhaha with receivers coach Hue Jackson and head coach Marvin Lewis during halftime of Sunday's home playoff loss, we continue to hear from new sources that the incident Johnson claims didn't happen in fact did.



This one came to us unsolicited (but second hand) from one of the many agents we've gotten to know over the past four-plus years. Said the source:



"I spoke to a player that I am very close to on the Bengals today and he confirmed the incident you have been reporting. He said that there was a 'swing' taken in Marvin's direction and that Marvin did nothing about it. My source also said that he felt like 'kicking Chad's ass' and that Marvin never stands up to Chad. He said that they allow him to act like a 12-year-old and that it definitely affected their play in the second half."



The problem, of course, is that no one has gone on the record to dispute Johnson's version of the events. Lewis has been conspicuously silent, as has been Hue Jackson.



But this isn't a game of rock-scissors-paper in which a public denial trumps the truth. The players understandably are reluctant to discuss the matter on the record, apparently because they believe that any public comment on the issue would not be appreciated by Coach Lewis.



There's also a general belief in locker rooms that, as Herm Edwards a/k/a Jackie Chiles said on Monday, "what stays in my house, stays in my house."



Also, let's consider for a moment the bass-ackward logic that was spawned by the Eephus pitches hoisted in Chad's direction during last night's press conference.



Softball #1: "Chad, if any of this stuff was true, wouldn't -- wouldn't Coach Lewis based on what we know about him have done something about it during the game?"



Johnson: "Probably so. Probably so."



Softball #2: "Do you think you would have played if you would've took a swung [sic] at him? Do you think you would have played?"



Johnson: "He would have sat me down."



But if Marvin Lewis had decided in the midst of the moment, only seconds before it was time to head back to the field and receive the kickoff to start the third quarter, that it was an emotional reaction by an emotional player in very emotional circumstances and that the team, already down Carson Palmer and Chris Henry, couldn't win with Chad Johnson out of action, Lewis would have done precisely what he did.



Nothing. Nothing at all.



And let's assume Lewis had benched Johnson for the second half of the franchise's first playoff game in 15 years at a time when the Bengals were clinging to a three-point lead and without their starting quarterback and their No. 3 receiver. With Kelley Washington inactive, the Bengals would have had three wideouts for the rest of the game -- T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Kevin Walter, and Tab Perry.



The post-game press conference would have been interesting, to say the least.



Hardball #1: "Coach Lewis, why didn't Chad Johnson play in the second half of the game?"



Lewis: "Coach's decision. Next question."



Hardball #2: "But what could have happened to cause you to bench one of the best receivers in the NFL during crunch time in the team's first playoff game in 15 years?"



Lewis: "As Herm Edwards might say tomorrow when addressing his exit from the Jets, what stays in my house, stays in my house."



Hardball #3: "What the hell does that mean?"



Lewis: "I don't know. Ask Herm tomorrow. But I think it means we don't talk about things that happen in the locker room."



Folks, there's no way Lewis would have been able to keep a lid on what had happened, if Johnson had been yanked from the game. Even if Lewis had refused to explain to the media why Johnson was benched, at least one of the other players would have viewed the benching as tacit approval to talk about what happened. Johnson, at a minimum, likely would have said that there was a confrontation in the locker room but that the punishment didn't fit the crime.



Bottom line -- Lewis made a snap decision to brush the whole thing under the rug, and everything that has happened since then was a natural consequence of the choice Lewis made.



Including the decision by multiple other players to talk privately about the matter. It's not an uncommon phenomenon when players believe that there is one set of rules for them, and another set of rules for the photogenic superstar who has the head coach and the media wrapped around his finger.



Human nature, under such circumstances, spawns resentment -- especially when there's reason to believe that the circumstances ultimately prevented the team from achieving its goal of advancing in the playoffs.



"The special treatment program is a dangerous path," one league insider told us on Wednesday morning. In this specific case, it's possible that one or more of the players will fink on Chad publicly, turn on Lewis for allowing Johnson to misrepresent what occurred, or want out of Cincinnati.



As we've learned too many times in matters of politics, the cover up is often worse than the crime. In this case, the cover up is in full gear. The only thing that remains to be seen is whether one of Johnson's teammates will stand up and expose the truth

 

[Spartacus]

considerable difference between losing your cool during an emotionally charged game
and disrespecting your teamates in front of microphones
I imagine this kind of ruckus occures often in NFL locker rooms
btw anyone remember reggie jackson and billy martin going at it in the dugout?
I think the yankees won the series that year