Marvin: Come Home, Odell!

[J24]

To all the haters

HA ha Ha ha The Human missile returns!

Who really doubted this though

Oh fer chrissake.

1. He has to get past Goodell

2. He has to stay clean

3. He has to be somewhere near football shape despite not having played in two years and having spent a part of that time in meth houses, from all accounts.

What part of any of that seems likely? Seriously, what part? I don't understand the infatuation. At some point, reality has to be accounted for. And, understand, I own a Thurman jersey, my one and only Bengals jersey (I really know how to pick 'em, huh).

All I am saying is stop reacting, people, like he will be here and mean anything to this team. He has earned one thing and one thing only from me and most other fans who don't have our heads up our asses...extreme skepticism. When he actually gets to camp, can practice without getting hurt, can get through his evenings without drunkenly driving knucklehead teammates around town, and can actually get on the field and execute a play as its designed, actually being where he is supposed to be, then and only then will I allow some excitement to creep back in for him from me.

It was acholal not Meth that was just a big internet rumor that you bought into.

[membengal]

All I am saying is stop reacting, people, like he will be here and mean anything to this team.

My plan:

1. Change screename to "OdellCat".

2. Change avatar to picture of Odell.

3. Load up flying Odell pic as sig.

4. Begin using "Odell" as a random replacement for other words in sentences, a la the Smurfs. So: "What an Odelly day!" "Tha's an Odell of an idea!" "You're an Odelling genius!" etc.

All while wearing my Odell jersey, of course!

Done and done.

I hope the Bengals go Odell and 0 this year, celebrating all those Odells with 5 Odells a game (four passing odells and one running odell). It goes without saying that the defense will give up no Odells, leading to the first ever scoreless Odell season in NFL (ne: Odell) history.

Seriously, it's like being in f**kin' John Malkovich's head on this board when it comes to our favorite meth addicted linebacker....

J24: Ask yourself this...what put Odell on the NFL's watch list for substance abuse issues in the first place? Hint: it wasn't alcohol. Although it was the DUI that bought him his suspension. But it was "something else" that got him the scrutiny in the first place. Fine. Apologize for that all you want. But you can't trust him further than you can throw him at this point, and, frankly, this team is full up with that kind of player as long as Chris Henry is here. One is enough. Winning is hard enough in the NFL without having to worry about baby-sitting. I though ML said they were getting out of that game. If they bring Odell back in, trust this, they are back in the baby-sitting game.

[Spor_tees]

To all the haters

HA ha Ha ha The Human missile returns!

Who really doubted this though

Oh fer chrissake.

1. He has to get past Goodell

2. He has to stay clean

3. He has to be somewhere near football shape despite not having played in two years and having spent a part of that time in meth houses, from all accounts.

What part of any of that seems likely? Seriously, what part? I don't understand the infatuation. At some point, reality has to be accounted for. And, understand, I own a Thurman jersey, my one and only Bengals jersey (I really know how to pick 'em, huh).

All I am saying is stop reacting, people, like he will be here and mean anything to this team. He has earned one thing and one thing only from me and most other fans who don't have our heads up our asses...extreme skepticism. When he actually gets to camp, can practice without getting hurt, can get through his evenings without drunkenly driving knucklehead teammates around town, and can actually get on the field and execute a play as its designed, actually being where he is supposed to be, then and only then will I allow some excitement to creep back in for him from me.

It was acholal not Meth that was just a big internet rumor that you bought into.

You don't fail a urine test for alcohol....

[The PatternMaster]

Odell never did meth, he tested positive for weed..if anyone's doing meth it's caleb "I can't gain weight to save my life" miller..

I hope Odell can finish out these last few months and get re-instated, he has alot of people who love him looking up to him to get this done.

"You can do it"

[DesperateDerelict]

My turn.

I'm not surprised a bit.

[membengal]

Weed, meth, crack, whatever, he's on his last strike. He's an addictive personality. He will need constant baby-sitting. What part of that seems like a good idea for this particular club?

[The PatternMaster]

Weed, meth, crack, whatever, he's on his last strike. He's an addictive personality. He will need constant baby-sitting. What part of that seems like a good idea for this particular club?

Dude, you really should take a step back and think about this. Odell is young guy who grew up in a situation that the average person would find it hard to succeed in. But he has overcome many obsactles and bad situations in his life and along the way he made a few mistakes. His chosen profession puts his personal life on display for the world to see, he gets to grow up under media scrunity and any mistake he makes get magnified.

Yes Odell made some horrible decisions by choosing to use drugs and alcohol, but those actions don't make him a bad person. If anything he needs to be welcomed back and encouraged to change his lifestyle for the better, not ridiculed and burned at the stake by self-righteous hypocrites who have never met the man or walked a day in his shoes.

Also, I doubt Odell will have the luxury of constant baby-sitting, they tried that once with Hunley and it obiviously didn't work, grown men have to be accountable for their own actions.

[walshfan]

Weed, meth, crack, whatever, he's on his last strike. He's an addictive personality. He will need constant baby-sitting. What part of that seems like a good idea for this particular club?

Dude, you really should take a step back and think about this. Odell is young guy who grew up in a situation that the average person would find it hard to succeed in. But he has overcome many obsactles and bad situations in his life and along the way he made a few mistakes. His chosen profession puts his personal life on display for the world to see, he gets to grow up under media scrunity and any mistake he makes get magnified.

Yes Odell made some horrible decisions by choosing to use drugs and alcohol, but those actions don't make him a bad person. If anything he needs to be welcomed back and encouraged to change his lifestyle for the better, not ridiculed and burned at the stake by self-righteous hypocrites who have never met the man or walked a day in his shoes.

Also, I doubt Odell will have the luxury of constant baby-sitting, they tried that once with Hunley and it obiviously didn't work, grown men have to be accountable for their own actions.

Lets leave the "growing up in less than favorable circumstances" excuses out of the mix....

Many players have come from horrendous conditions and had the moxy to make the right decisions on whats rigtht or wrong in life's decisions..

Thurman has chose to throw his life under the bus for the sake of getting high and avoiding any responsibilities to himself and his team..

Does he deserve another chance? Maybe but he damn well better not screw it up this time....

Lewis has an organization to run successfully and his leash is short ....His job depends on it.

[The PatternMaster]

Weed, meth, crack, whatever, he's on his last strike. He's an addictive personality. He will need constant baby-sitting. What part of that seems like a good idea for this particular club?

Dude, you really should take a step back and think about this. Odell is young guy who grew up in a situation that the average person would find it hard to succeed in. But he has overcome many obsactles and bad situations in his life and along the way he made a few mistakes. His chosen profession puts his personal life on display for the world to see, he gets to grow up under media scrunity and any mistake he makes get magnified.

Yes Odell made some horrible decisions by choosing to use drugs and alcohol, but those actions don't make him a bad person. If anything he needs to be welcomed back and encouraged to change his lifestyle for the better, not ridiculed and burned at the stake by self-righteous hypocrites who have never met the man or walked a day in his shoes.

Also, I doubt Odell will have the luxury of constant baby-sitting, they tried that once with Hunley and it obiviously didn't work, grown men have to be accountable for their own actions.

Lets leave the "growing up in less than favorable circumstances" excuses out of the mix....

Many players have come from horrendous conditions and had the moxy to make the right decisions on whats rigtht or wrong in life's decisions..

Thurman has chose to throw his life under the bus for the sake of getting high and avoiding any responsibilities to himself and his team..

Does he deserve another chance? Maybe but he damn well better not screw it up this time....

Lewis has an organization to run successfully and his leash is short ....His job depends on it.

Fair enough, but I don't think that because a 21 year old kid smoked some weed he should be treated like the #2 guy in Al Queada either, some people need to re-adjust their prespective.

Yes, Odell f**ked up by lying to his organization about his drug use, yes he let him and his family down by getting suspened for the 2006 season. But he didn't hurt anyone but himself so by that fact alone he deserves one final shot at getting this right, and the reason why I bring up his background is because of the examples he saw of how to behave when growing up.

When kids grow up around parents who abuse drugs and alcohol they are more likely to do the same, but he's nobody's victim and he has be to held accountable. Hopefully he realizes this and is ready to atone and get his life back on track.

[walshfan]

Weed, meth, crack, whatever, he's on his last strike. He's an addictive personality. He will need constant baby-sitting. What part of that seems like a good idea for this particular club?

Dude, you really should take a step back and think about this. Odell is young guy who grew up in a situation that the average person would find it hard to succeed in. But he has overcome many obsactles and bad situations in his life and along the way he made a few mistakes. His chosen profession puts his personal life on display for the world to see, he gets to grow up under media scrunity and any mistake he makes get magnified.

Yes Odell made some horrible decisions by choosing to use drugs and alcohol, but those actions don't make him a bad person. If anything he needs to be welcomed back and encouraged to change his lifestyle for the better, not ridiculed and burned at the stake by self-righteous hypocrites who have never met the man or walked a day in his shoes.

Also, I doubt Odell will have the luxury of constant baby-sitting, they tried that once with Hunley and it obiviously didn't work, grown men have to be accountable for their own actions.

Lets leave the "growing up in less than favorable circumstances" excuses out of the mix....

Many players have come from horrendous conditions and had the moxy to make the right decisions on whats rigtht or wrong in life's decisions..

Thurman has chose to throw his life under the bus for the sake of getting high and avoiding any responsibilities to himself and his team..

Does he deserve another chance? Maybe but he damn well better not screw it up this time....

Lewis has an organization to run successfully and his leash is short ....His job depends on it.

Fair enough, but I don't think that because a 21 year old kid smoked some weed he should be treated like the #2 guy in Al Queada either, some people need to re-adjust their prespective.

Yes, Odell f**ked up by lying to his organization about his drug use, yes he let him and his family down by getting suspened for the 2006 season. But he didn't hurt anyone but himself so by that fact alone he deserves one final shot at getting this right, and the reason why I bring up his background is because of the examples he saw of how to behave when growing up.

When kids grow up around parents who abuse drugs and alcohol they are more likely to do the same, but he's nobody's victim and he has be to held accountable. Hopefully he realizes this and is ready to atone and get his life back on track.

Id like nothing more than to see Thurman get his life on track and contribute to the success of this team.

His talent alone makes the team all the more better and if he decided to lead by example, his personal testement on making wrong choices would be uplifting to others as well....

The question Lewis faces is will he stay straight and become an asset or will he backslide and possibly take a young teammate down the same road......

Only Lewis and Thurman can answer that.....Im not sure whether Odell even knows the answer right now.

[The PatternMaster]

Weed, meth, crack, whatever, he's on his last strike. He's an addictive personality. He will need constant baby-sitting. What part of that seems like a good idea for this particular club?

Dude, you really should take a step back and think about this. Odell is young guy who grew up in a situation that the average person would find it hard to succeed in. But he has overcome many obsactles and bad situations in his life and along the way he made a few mistakes. His chosen profession puts his personal life on display for the world to see, he gets to grow up under media scrunity and any mistake he makes get magnified.

Yes Odell made some horrible decisions by choosing to use drugs and alcohol, but those actions don't make him a bad person. If anything he needs to be welcomed back and encouraged to change his lifestyle for the better, not ridiculed and burned at the stake by self-righteous hypocrites who have never met the man or walked a day in his shoes.

Also, I doubt Odell will have the luxury of constant baby-sitting, they tried that once with Hunley and it obiviously didn't work, grown men have to be accountable for their own actions.

Lets leave the "growing up in less than favorable circumstances" excuses out of the mix....

Many players have come from horrendous conditions and had the moxy to make the right decisions on whats rigtht or wrong in life's decisions..

Thurman has chose to throw his life under the bus for the sake of getting high and avoiding any responsibilities to himself and his team..

Does he deserve another chance? Maybe but he damn well better not screw it up this time....

Lewis has an organization to run successfully and his leash is short ....His job depends on it.

Fair enough, but I don't think that because a 21 year old kid smoked some weed he should be treated like the #2 guy in Al Queada either, some people need to re-adjust their prespective.

Yes, Odell f**ked up by lying to his organization about his drug use, yes he let him and his family down by getting suspened for the 2006 season. But he didn't hurt anyone but himself so by that fact alone he deserves one final shot at getting this right, and the reason why I bring up his background is because of the examples he saw of how to behave when growing up.

When kids grow up around parents who abuse drugs and alcohol they are more likely to do the same, but he's nobody's victim and he has be to held accountable. Hopefully he realizes this and is ready to atone and get his life back on track.

Id like nothing more than to see Thurman get his life on track and contribute to the success of this team.

His talent alone makes the team all the more better and if he decided to lead by example, his personal testement on making wrong choices would be uplifting to others as well....

The question Lewis faces is will he stay straight and become an asset or will he backslide and possibly take a young teammate down the same road......

Only Lewis and Thurman can answer that.....Im not sure whether Odell even knows the answer right now.

Unfortunately I think we've already been down that road, but hopefully he's turing the corner and he understands how he will held accountable for his actions.

[membengal]

"Hopefully he's turning the corner"? Well yes, I hope so too.

But I don't want this team in a position where it is relying on someone who has "hopefully turned the corner". They already have that with Chris Henry, and it is has hampered them severely for the first eight games of 2007. And possibly more, if Henry sneezes in the wrong direction. They already went down that road with Odell, and it hurt them SEVERELY in 2006. Why is anyone rushing to take that chance with him again?

I hope his life is straightened out. Frankly, I don't care about whether he smokes pot or not once he is done with the league. I happen to think pot should be legal. But in the here and now, where pot is not legal, and where the NFL has taken such a hard stance against it, and where it, along with alcohol, has already cost him a season, and put him one tipped bottle or passing whiff of a joint from another enforced vacation, I don't agree with taking on the chance of him hurting the club.

One such risk is enough. We are full up with Mr. Henry. No room at the baby-sitting inn for another.

[HoosierCat]

But I don't want this team in a position where it is relying on someone who has "hopefully turned the corner".

The only way that would happen would be through another horrendous rash of injuries in the LB corps. Jeanty, Brooks, Hartwell and probably Henderson, Miller and Landon would all be ahead of him on the depth chart. If the Bengals get in a position where they have to rely on Odell they are probably screwed anyhow.

If he comes back, and ends up cut at the end of TC, the Bengals aren't out anything more than a few weeks training camp salary. If he makes the team as a backup, doesn't see much action but stays clean and sober, then at least he's practicing, rounding back into football shape and hopefully learning about that whole "gap control" thing. And that gives the team an option when Hartwell heads out in '08.

Really, this year is a no-lose proposition for the Bengals. They get to test-drive the "new" Odell while they are fairly well-stocked at LB (and even have a weak-side backup plan for the post-Hartwell era in Everett, who'll probably end up on the PS). The real big decision will come in 2008: if Odell stays on the straight and narrow in '07, do you take that as a good sign and perhaps let some guys like Landon or Miller walk? Or do you let Odell go in favor of keeping a guy who's less talented, but not a character risk?

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Well the Bengals' have put themselves in a position where they are not "reliant" on Odell, and anything he brings to the table next year, if he does, will be gravy.

People do recover successfully from addiction problems all the time, I've seen Heroin addicts recover for Christ's sake.

Lucky for him he's got a chance to make a ton of money and play a game he loves to help him stay clean - much like Josh Hamilton for the Reds.

Most addicts go back to the working world with no skills, a criminal record, and no hope - and still have to stay sober. Now THAT is a challenge.

If Odell can't kick it and get back on the field - he's a weak, pathetic man IMO.

[bwillycuse]

Geeze - Those of you detracting from the optimistic news...We just finally got a good news snippet about a player who was talked about as almost winning the Rookie of the Year award. A linebacker at that - on a team who has a weakness and no identity at the linebacker position. I know he had/has issues - but if he is good with his issues then we could have a hell of a player. If he isnt right then we cut our losses. He worked hard his rookie year - that is what I want instilled into the team.

Oh and I know people are ultimately responsible for their actions but some people start with bigger mountains in front of them than others. Just because one person is successful getting over a hill doesnt make him a better person than the guy who fails to get over his mountain.

[BengalszoneBilly]

Hey, a present for all the short-sighted individuals who banged their drums to cut him!!!

It makes me feel GREAT! Get your s**t together Odell, and start your career over the right way this time!

[HairOnFire]

My turn.

I'm not surprised a bit.

First Adams, then Thurman. For those keeping sore I'll bag the trifecta if Pollack makes it back.

[Bobcat Bengal]

"laughs at all the people who got rid of or did something to their odell jerseys"

now they have to buy new ones >_< I knew I should picked one up when they were 50% off lol.

Mine is still hangin up in the closet.

I also have an O'Neal jersey.

I sure can pick em, can't I?

[The PatternMaster]

"Hopefully he's turning the corner"? Well yes, I hope so too.

But I don't want this team in a position where it is relying on someone who has "hopefully turned the corner". They already have that with Chris Henry, and it is has hampered them severely for the first eight games of 2007. And possibly more, if Henry sneezes in the wrong direction. They already went down that road with Odell, and it hurt them SEVERELY in 2006. Why is anyone rushing to take that chance with him again?

I hope his life is straightened out. Frankly, I don't care about whether he smokes pot or not once he is done with the league. I happen to think pot should be legal. But in the here and now, where pot is not legal, and where the NFL has taken such a hard stance against it, and where it, along with alcohol, has already cost him a season, and put him one tipped bottle or passing whiff of a joint from another enforced vacation, I don't agree with taking on the chance of him hurting the club.

One such risk is enough. We are full up with Mr. Henry. No room at the baby-sitting inn for another.

I agree with you about the baby sitting, at this level coaches shouldn't have deal that stuff, that is what college is for. Odell knows he's on a short leash, Mike Brown couldn't have forgetton how Odell lied to his face, no owner can get over something like that. Also, this isn't the 2006 season and Odell isn't coming off DROY season, he'll be 2nd on the depth chart at best. Having him on the bench is a luxury as in case of injury he could step in, but he has to know that the team has moved on.

[Jet23]

Really, what is the story here? Did anyone believe that he was going to not try to be reinstated? ML made it very clear that OT had to take care of business. Marvin is just confirming that he is trying to do so. How stupid would he have to be to just throw away a promising young football career? The hardest thing is not to get clean, but to stay clean. I hope he does.

[Walrus]

How stupid would he have to be to just throw away a promising young football career?

Since he's already "Onterrio Smith" stupid, it's really only a short hop to "Ricky Williams" stupid. Odell-erific!

[jjakq27]

Hey, a present for all the short-sighted individuals who banged their drums to cut him!!!

Keep the present. This guy and his buddy Henry cost us a playoff birth last year. I am not quite ready to stand in line and kiss his ass.

[BengalszoneBilly]

This guy and his buddy Henry cost us a playoff birth last year.

C'mon...it was a lot more than that which cost us the playoffs IMHO.

[derekshank]

http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=6051

Lewis backed off a bit from Monday night's pronouncement that he'll give linebacker Odell Thurman a chance once the NFL reinstates him from his year suspenson.

"I don't have to worry about that until he gets an opportunity from the NFL," Lewis said when asked if he'll give him a chance. "Then we'll evaluate it."

C'mon Marvin. Why do you have to be so pessimistic and short-sighted? Geesh.

[agreen_112]

Welcome back O-Dawg!!!