The Cincinnati Bengals have not had a post-season playoff victory in 26 years. On April 11, the team’s owner, Mike Brown, had a chance to possibly shift the tides if he agreed to sign strong safety Eric Reid. Before closing on a deal with the free agent athlete, Brown felt it necessary to hold a private meeting to vet the team’s newest prospect. Given the team’s penchant for causing trouble, it was understandable at first why Brown might have wanted to speak with Reid. But, what doesn’t make sense is what Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported as the red flag for Brown: the athlete’s inability to promise that he would never kneel during the national anthem.
According to the NY Daily News, 26-year-old Reid made the Pro Bowl in 2013 and has racked up “10 interceptions, 36 pass defenses, 264 tackles, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries” over the span of his five-season professional career. Yet, the Bengals owner would not dream of signing the stellar athlete unless Brown made a commitment not to participate in another demonstration, as he had previously done while playing with the 49ers, alongside former teammate Colin Kaepernick, and throughout much of 2017.
It’s interesting that this was seemingly the only ire that Brown had when considering recruiting a player to a team which, according to the Bleacher Report, has seen more than 32 of it’s players arrested between 2000 and 2011. For instance, according to ESPN, Bengals cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones was arrested twice in 2013 on domestic violence charges, and in 2007 he was involved in an altercation in a Las Vegas strip club that left a man paralyzed from the waist down. Wide receiver Chris Henry was arrested six times in a span of three months for assault, drunk driving, and drug and gun charges before his death in 2009. Last year, Brown welcomed Joe Mixon to the team, despite having been suspended in 2014 by University of Oklahoma for punching a woman so hard that he broke the bones in her face.
Yet, I can’t recall hearing of a single instance when Brown called for a private meeting to meet with Jones, Mixon or Henry. Somehow, to Brown, assault, drunk driving and abuse aren’t as alarming as peaceful protests against the acts of violence that have plagued American society. Apparently, none of these acts committed by his players were red flags worthy of a private discussion and point-blank questions.
Brown, if you’re going to start taking an interest in the actions of NFL athletes, might I suggest that you first pull the plank out of your own player’s eyes? How are you even leading a team when you can’t find your own compass? My opinion: Throw the whole management away.
