Marvin: Come Home, Odell!

[Jet23]

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!

Nice. But, Ricky would have to smoke a lot of rope to be Stanley Wilson stupid...

[Kazkal]

[

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

you do for pot we don't know why he failed if he actually failed or just missed a test.

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!

Billy high five

[HairOnFire]

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

Don't let facts get in the way of a bad argument. Chris Henry scored enough TD's to finish 6th in the NFL, and made a play against Denver that would have gotten the Bengals into the playoffs if Chad Johnson hadn't committed a stupid penalty. The Bengals lost. Later, Henry made yet another play that should have resulted in a win against the Steeelers, and a playoff berth, but the Bengals found a way to miss a routine FG. The Bengals lost again.

Frankly, there are plenty of players that can be blamed for the Bengals missing the playoffs last season but Chris Henry isn't one of them.

[HoosierCat]

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

Actually, he wasn't. Hobson spun the quote in a slightly more negative direction. What Marvin said, in full, was (per Curnutte's blog, emphasis on non-Hobson-reported quotes added):

Lewis said on WLW-AM that he was optimistic that, if Thurman were re-instated by the NFL this summer, he would have an opportunity to compete for a roster spot.

"He’s closer to doing those things," Lewis said of Thurman’s rehab. "My impression, my indication is he is closer to doing those things.

"I don’t have to worry about that until he gets an opportunity from the NFL. Then we’ll evaluate. I think he’s made progress."

[BengalszoneBilly]

[

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

you do for pot we don't know why he failed if he actually failed or just missed a test.

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!

Billy high five

Kaz! I'm impressed you learned how to use the "quote" feature! High five back at 'cha.

[Stripes]

Call me a homer, or call me stupid, but I'm 95% sure we'll see Odell Thurman on the field and in Bengal stripes this season.

[Kazkal]

[

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

you do for pot we don't know why he failed if he actually failed or just missed a test.

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!

Billy high five

Kaz! I'm impressed you learned how to use the "quote" feature! High five back at 'cha.

you don't like my bold quotes? /cry

[Kazkal]

Call me a homer, or call me stupid, but I'm 95% sure we'll see Odell Thurman on the field and in Bengal stripes this season.

if It's a homer to want your best defensive player on the field,then call me a homer too.

[Tasher]

Hartwell at WSLB, Thurman at MLB and Brooks at SSLB.

Ahmad Brooks is going to me the Middle Linebacker on this team this year and years to come..

IF Thurman comes back ( and thats a BIG IF ) he'll be the will backer with Hartwell at the sam.

In all reality I think the corps of Hartwell, Brooks and Jeanty will be the players on the field this year.

I just dont think Odell will play for the Bengals again....

3 , 4 3, 4 3 , 4 3 , 4 3 , 4 3 , 4 3 , 4

Jeanty, Brooks, Odell, Hartwell!

[Thurmanation]

not gunna even say anything..my first few posts i had on this site speak for me

and ive worn my Odell jersey plenty times this year..i was wearing it just 2 days ago

[jjakq27]

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.

Odell was a distraction and a non-factor all season. You take one of your most productive players from 2005 off of that team and the team comes up one game short. I believe he would have made the difference last year.

Frankly, there are plenty of players that can be blamed for the Bengals missing the playoffs last season but Chris Henry isn't one of them.

Again his actions disrupted this team and contributed to their unsuccessful season.

You can quote specific situations, non-calls, penalties, poor coaching, bad luck and other players as reasons the Bengals didn't make the playoffs last year, but I feel like they both let a lot of people down and I am putting them at the top of the list for that. Odell's issues hung over this team all year last year. And so did Henry's shenanigan's.

So forgive me if I am a little bit sceptical and not exactly all warm and fuzzy about these two playing for us this year.

[Stripes]

Call me a homer, or call me stupid, but I'm 95% sure we'll see Odell Thurman on the field and in Bengal stripes this season.

if It's a homer to want your best defensive player on the field,then call me a homer too.

It's not really that I want to see him back (though I do), it's that I expect it.

[ArmyBengal]

Once again, it's not that I don't want to see him come back and be the productive LB we all thought he would be, but it's the fact that one more slip up costs him, as well as the Bengals...

I'm not ready to kiss his ass either though.

#1. He still has to reinstated

#2. He hasn't played in forever

#3. There were issues with his play (Right positions) that need to be fixed.

#4. I'm still pissed that he was so irresponsible, we didn't have him last year when we needed him.

#5. Addictive personalities are a difficult thing and he will always be a concern for the organization.

That being said, I'm still hoping that he will get his sh*t together and be the player we have all hoped for !!!

WHODEY !!!

[bengal4life]

"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.

Check fansedge.com I think they may still be on sale and they've got every color.

[HairOnFire]

You can quote specific situations, non-calls, penalties, poor coaching, bad luck and other players as reasons the Bengals didn't make the playoffs last year, but I feel like they both let a lot of people down and I am putting them at the top of the list for that.

But that's just the point, as I can quote specific plays that Henry made that should have resulted in the Bengals reaching the playoffs....so it's dead wrong to claim that he's personally responsible for the failure. Granted, his actions off the field have made him an easy target for the bulk of a fanbase's rage and frustration, but it simply isn't true. Instead, look at Palmer's completeion percentage down the stretch. Look at the miserable 3rd down conversion rate. Look at the way Chad disappeared when it counted most. Look at the special team failures that cost the Bengals two chances to make the playoffs. Look at the way the Steelers vicimized Tory James yet again on another game winning play. And yeah, look at Opies missed FGA when it mattered most.

[derekshank]

You can quote specific situations, non-calls, penalties, poor coaching, bad luck and other players as reasons the Bengals didn't make the playoffs last year, but I feel like they both let a lot of people down and I am putting them at the top of the list for that.

But that's just the point, as I can quote specific plays that Henry made that should have resulted in the Bengals reaching the playoffs....so it's dead wrong to claim that he's personally responsible for the failure. Granted, his actions off the field have made him an easy target for the bulk of a fanbase's rage and frustration, but it simply isn't true. Instead, look at Palmer's completeion percentage down the stretch. Look at the miserable 3rd down conversion rate. Look at the way Chad disappeared when it counted most. Look at the special team failures that cost the Bengals two chances to make the playoffs. Look at the way the Steelers vicimized Tory James yet again on another game winning play. And yeah, look at Opies missed FGA when it mattered most.

Yeah... I think it's a bit ridiculous to attempt to blame one or two players for missing the playoffs. Although, I think it is equally ridiculous to try to blame Palmer's completion %. He was coming off of a serious injury, with Chad always missing time with cramps, Housh out for 3 games with injuries, Henry out for 3 games with suspensions, Tab Perry playing only 2 games, Chatman playing only 3, and Chris Perry as the pass catching RB missing most of the season.

Nope... I think if there is one thing to be blamed for the Bengals missing the playoffs... it's injuries. It's part of the game, but there is no question that the Bengals were snake-bitten more than just about any other team last year.

[jjakq27]

Sorry boys, I'm sticking with my story. Odell would have helped the 20-something ranked defense. All we needed was one game. He would have made the difference.

Plus the cloud over the team because of Odell and Henry's BS cost us too.

[Stripes]

I agree that the Bengals would have won one at least more game with Odell playing every game. Still, I think the same can be said of Rich Braham, Levi Jones, David Pollack, or Dexter Jackson.

[Kazkal]

He more or less won us the titans game...people always talk about him being out of postion but which of our LB's were always in right postion besides Bsimmons ?

[HairOnFire]

(((Shrug)))

Why stop there? The Bengals would have made the playoffs if yet another single play had turned out differently, the ridiculous roughing the passer penalty called on Justin Smith in the Tampa Bay game....singled out by an impartial source as the worst call made in any NFL game all season.

I'm not sure what the point to all of this is supposed to but I do know that this thread was started because Marvin Lewis let it slip that he'll welcome Thurman back despite all of the coachspeak to the contrary. That should be news to many of you who overreacted to Lewis's remarks about not talking about players who aren't on the team.

Frankly, if blaming last seasons failure to make the playoffs on a player who didn't play a down makes some of you feel better then by all means have at it....as I can certainly understand the appeal of having a convenient whipping boy. But having a whipping boy at your disposal doesn't change the FACT that last seasons failure is more rightly placed at the feet of the Bengal players who did play, and while playing made critical errors and mistakes that cost the Bengals dearly.

End of rant.

[hrod382]

The Odell being out of position talk bothers me. First off I don't recall hardly ever hearing this before he was suspended. Second he was a freaking rookie and third, I guess every other LB we have is always in position?

Odell made plays. No one on our defense last year made plays, if you want to get down to it KK was our defensive playmaker and he is obviously no longer with the team.

This defense needs Odell, it was clear last year and given our roster this year we still need him. I say Marvin starts him out 3rd string and lets him work his way back up to a starting role. WLB if Ahmad is playing well at MLB or MLB if Ahmad is just playing OK and swap Ahmad to SLB. At what point in the season I'm unsure. The coaching staff and players have really come around on Odell and it almost seems like they're rallying behind him. They want to win and if Odell screws his head on straight he will play next year and eventually start.

[HairOnFire]

Odell made plays. No one on our defense last year made plays.....

There it is.

[walshfan]

Fans tend to remember the Odell that was on the field on 05....

Is he even in football shape.. Where's his head at?

He did make plays I give him that but he also played out of control .

Gap control was not on his agenda and it drove the coaches nuts..

He'll have to start like a rook and EARN playing time ....if he even comes back..

[hrod382]

Fans tend to remember the Odell that was on the field on 05....

Is he even in football shape.. Where's his head at?

He did make plays I give him that but he also played out of control .

Gap control was not on his agenda and it drove the coaches nuts..

He'll have to start like a rook and EARN playing time ....if he even comes back..

He's an athlete. Ahmad was out of shape last year spent a month or two getting back into shape and he was fine midseason, just overwhelmed by the scheme and where he should be... No physical problems. Just imagine Odell as a player who had a bad injury in preseason less the concern over the injury lingering (granted his injury is in his head ).

As I said... Odell was a rookie. To think the guy should've been perfect is insane. 5 INT's 98 total tackles. Ahmad Brooks is my favorite Bengal but putting Odell at MLB makes our team better than Ahmad there.

Ed Reed has been known to roam and cost his team because of it but would you not want him because of it?

[ArmyBengal]

Yes, Odell was a rookie, but that has been some time now and has been out of football since. The concern is he is further behind than he was at the end of 2005 and will take some considerable time to get back to "that" level. A level which still needed improvment. I know, everyone needs improvement, but that is an issue with Odell that many look at and I am one of them.

Once again, I'm rooting for Odell, but he has a difficult path ahead of him and for anyone to think he's going to walk into a starting position is just crazy. I agree with the thought of him starting out as the backup and working his way back into a "possible" starting position. I think he will compliment the rotation of LB's...

WHODEY !!!