The truth about Odell Thurman

[schnarfer]

I have been hearing alot about the supposed upcoming suspension of Odell Thurman....If Profootball talk is the only source reporting this then maybe we shouldnot jump to conclusions. First off, he would have to go through a 4 game suspension before a full year...Second off, if anything has come about it would be very very hard to keep that type of news off of a legitamate news source for very long...Finally...Marvin addressed this issue and stated that he will be ready for training camp...Marvin wouldn't lie..would he?

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Well he can take part in training camp, and practices, but still be suspended for regular season games.

The Bengals' have also continued to show a curious interest in various LB's.

No one knew about Clemons suspension before it happened last year either...literally was announced, I thought, a week or two before the 1st reg season game, could be wrong.

Right now it's obviously speculation...but not sure anyone would be shocked if it happened.

[Kazkal]

And if Odell some how did get 4 games,I'd still feel safe with landon starting at MLB sense he'd be our starter if odell wasen't their in the 2nd

[Stripes]

I think that with the rumors PFT has been chugging out, people are naturally paying more attention to things that might not necessarily warrant it. Marvin seems to pay special attention to linebackers throughout the offseason every year... It just never gave us any reason to worry until now.

I agree with schnarfer. I doubt news potentially this big regarding yet another recent Bengals draft pick wouldn't find its way to a major media source very quickly.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

A couple of things:

1) PFT did *not* report the Odell thing as accurate. They reported that they'd been hearing something hazy about Odell. They looked into it, and couldn't get anyone who actually knew anything to say what was up. Since the PFT site is in fact called "Rumor Mill," they dutifully reported the rumor as well as the fact that they couldn't find anything at all to substantiate it. So I wouldn't be too incredibly worried right now, as absolutely no one has acually come out and said this is true.

However, regarding the one-year thing that has been rumored...

2) If a player had two positives before the end of last season, and got two more over the offeason, it is conceivable that he would trigger the 1-season suspension before being able to serve the 4-gamer. But that would be a lot of positives even for Chris Henry. That assumes peyote instead of 'roids though. 'Roids is a 4-gamer for a first time, 6 for second, and 1 year for 3rd.

In the end, no one is claiming this is legit. Not even PFT. And since Bengal "turds" is on his short list of hot button topics (along with Steeler "turds," the Reggie Bush thing, and the not-so-non-contact OTAs), you can be sure he'll turn it up before the beginning of the season *if* there's anything there. The league office (and especially the drug testing part) has really loose lips. If no one heard about Clemons...it's because no one cares about Clemons enough to dig.

[derekshank]

Not to mention that none of this really explains what first sparked the rumor to begin with... the fact that Odell was not at the OTA's. If Odell had to serve a year suspension, he would still have been permitted to practice with the team.

The only negative possibility is that Odell was in rehab during OTA's. If that was the case, I imagine that it isa 4 or 6 game suspension. A full year would be really surprising.

[Spain]

I did it blame me for everything , my wife does.

[Bengalbob]

Not to mention that none of this really explains what first sparked the rumor to begin with... the fact that Odell was not at the OTA's. If Odell had to serve a year suspension, he would still have been permitted to practice with the team.

The only negative possibility is that Odell was in rehab during OTA's. If that was the case, I imagine that it isa 4 or 6 game suspension. A full year would be really surprising.

Actually, Odell shows up in the OTA videos posted on Bengals.com (he's in the 5/24 video -- 11 on 11 drills -- and I think he's in other OTA videos as well). It's the mandatory mini camp that he was excused to miss and missed.

[derekshank]

Not to mention that none of this really explains what first sparked the rumor to begin with... the fact that Odell was not at the OTA's. If Odell had to serve a year suspension, he would still have been permitted to practice with the team.

The only negative possibility is that Odell was in rehab during OTA's. If that was the case, I imagine that it isa 4 or 6 game suspension. A full year would be really surprising.

Actually, Odell shows up in the OTA videos posted on Bengals.com (he's in the 5/24 video -- 11 on 11 drills -- and I think he's in other OTA videos as well). It's the mandatory mini camp that he was excused to miss and missed.

Fine... but my point still stands. The year-long suspension theory doesn't explain why he was gone for mini-camp. It is just a rumor that doesn't really stand up to the evidence. Whatever he missed the camp for... it probably isn't good news, or they wouldn't be so hush hush about it. But the point is, he didn't miss because of a league suspension. He hasn't been suspended yet.

[andybren]

In the past, drug-related suspensions have been announced in August/September. So if Marvin can maintain the shroud of secrecy, it could be awhile before we know the truth.

I'm afraid rehab is the only plausible explanation for the absense. Anything else would have been talked about more openly. And if he's in rehab, it's not that big of a leap to expect at least a four game suspension.