Biggest Misconception?

[Scout200]

What do you think is the biggest misconception about the Bengals?

(Stemming from things you hear everywhere, yet they're not true...)

[HoosierCat]

That they're a professional football team.

[BengalszoneBilly]

That they're a professional football team.

[ArmyBengal]

That Mike Brown really cares about winning ??

[HoosierCat]

That Mike Brown really cares about winning ??

Which in turn leads to yet another misconception, that the team's unofficial song is "Welcome to the Jungle." Actually, this is what Mike pumps up the volume on before games:

/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzba7V8uB04

[HairOnFire]

The biggest misconception about the Bengals?

That it's players really care about winning, but can't due to interference from ownership.

My gut tells me that Bengal players are only too happy to embrace the perceptions surrounding this team and as a result will happily settle into a career where there isn't strong competition for their starting jobs.

Bengal players are clock punchers.

[Scout200]

That they're a professional football team.

Ha, clever!!

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

The biggest misconception about the Bengals?

That it's players really care about winning, but can't due to interference from ownership.

My gut tells me that Bengal players are only too happy to embrace the perceptions surrounding this team and as a result will happily settle into a career where there isn't strong competition for their starting jobs.

Bengal players are clock punchers.

Of course, many of them are. Because employees who aren't clock punchers won't work for an incompetent organization.

[HairOnFire]

The biggest misconception about the Bengals?

That it's players really care about winning, but can't due to interference from ownership.

My gut tells me that Bengal players are only too happy to embrace the perceptions surrounding this team and as a result will happily settle into a career where there isn't strong competition for their starting jobs.

Bengal players are clock punchers.

Of course, many of them are. Because employees who aren't clock punchers won't work for an incompetent organization.

Won't work for an incompetent organization, you say? Well, what do those brave hardworking players do instead? Do they start their own league? Do they release statements after being drafted that they'll never play for the Bengals?

No, they don't. Each and every one of them who bothers to show up quickly embraces the same substandard work ethic that they found when they arrived. In short, they settle. They settle for less in regards to competition and accomplishments, and for the most part they do so without complaint because they're well paid.

Last season bengal fans were treated to the now familiar sight of a fairly talented team going belly up without showing any fight whatsoever. And now those players meekly attempt to defend themselves by making vaque excuses about poor chemistry in the lockerroom or the laughable suggestion that Bengal players wilted under the spotlight. In fact, Bengal players NEVER play in the spotlight, as the Tanker gutlessly claimed. Rather, they play all of their games in a backwater small-market environment befitting a team whose single greatest accomplishment in the Marvin Lewis era is losing an opening round playoff game. Twice.

This team has never seen a spotlight, nevermind wilting under one.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

Won't work for an incompetent organization, you say? Well, what do those brave hardworking players do instead?

Get the hell out of town as soon as possible if they were drafted. Or not interview with the Bengals at all.

Or, you know, retire.

[membengal]

Won't work for an incompetent organization, you say? Well, what do those brave hardworking players do instead?

Get the hell out of town as soon as possible if they were drafted. Or not interview with the Bengals at all.

Or, you know, retire.

Thereby putting the lie to the "hard-working" part.

The need to contiually defend Carson Palmer by some of you is beyond laughable at this point.

[HairOnFire]

Won't work for an incompetent organization, you say? Well, what do those brave hardworking players do instead?

Get the hell out of town as soon as possible if they were drafted. Or not interview with the Bengals at all.

Or, you know, retire.

Thereby putting the lie to the "hard-working" part.

The need to contiually defend Carson Palmer by some of you is beyond laughable at this point.

Palmer is just the latest in a series, and hardly worth mentioning when debating the willingness of Bengal fans to make excuses for their favorite players. After all, a substantial protion of this teams fanbase openly defended Chad Johnson while he was tanking an entire season. And many continue to do so to this very day despite Chad admitting, for profit of course, what he'd done.

But let's get past the fans and get back to the players.

Why shouldn't the Bengals allow Carson Palmer to do in a very public way what most Bengal players do quietly? Why shouldn't they sit back and watch as Palmer passive aggressively threatens to sacrifice what's left of his own career instead of fighting for it? After all, by willingly settling for less Carson Palmer is threatening to do exactly what ALL Bengal players are quilty of doing, but on a smaller scale, when they so easily settle for 3 and 4 win seasons instead of fighting for more.

Point blank, by claiming a team that has never accomplished anything actually wilted under the spotlight Bengal players are offering unneeded proof that they think Bengal fans are complete morons.....which many Bengals fans are only to happy to prove.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

The need to contiually defend Carson Palmer by some of you is beyond laughable at this point.

I don't 'need' to do crap. I try putting myself in his position. Now, the baby-mama-drama part of it is stupid. But I could easily see a situation where I said to myself that I refuse to just go through the motions, and that's all playing for Mike Brown will ever be. I can see getting there, and retiring is more honorable than half-assing it. Barry Sanders did the same thing, and people understood.

I think it's silly that Carson Palmer is getting destroyed for deciding not to subject himself to a hopeless career. Of all people, how can Bengal fans not understand why he wants to get the hell out of there?

[derekshank]

The need to contiually defend Carson Palmer by some of you is beyond laughable at this point.

I don't 'need' to do crap. I try putting myself in his position. Now, the baby-mama-drama part of it is stupid. But I could easily see a situation where I said to myself that I refuse to just go through the motions, and that's all playing for Mike Brown will ever be. I can see getting there, and retiring is more honorable than half-assing it. Barry Sanders did the same thing, and people understood.

I think it's silly that Carson Palmer is getting destroyed for deciding not to subject himself to a hopeless career. Of all people, how can Bengal fans not understand why he wants to get the hell out of there?

Yes... but Barry Sanders didn't demand a trade, or else retire. He just retired. If you suddenly don't want to play football when the going gets tough... then guess what? You don't love playing football all that much.

If his heart isn't in it anymore, then retire. If he still wants to play football, then play out the contract he so willingly signed.

The idea that Carson Palmer's ultimatum is "honorable" is ass backwards.

[membengal]

The idea that Carson Palmer's ultimatum is "honorable" is ass backwards.

Indeed. I can't escape the simple fact that Palmer willingly signed the extension to be here. In so doing the Bengals were committing to him, and, by him signing, he to them.

There was no gun to his head. He could have said no and left via free agency and that would have been fine and his choice. But to sign the contract and then just plain quit if not traded when the going got tough? That's such an act of cowardice and dishonor that it almost defies comprehension. And any read on this tragicomedy that doesn't start and end with that acknowledgement is off-base.

Add in that it is the team's default leader at qb exhibiting such cowardice and dishonor and it boggles the mind. In fact, this teams shrinking nads in big game situations in the last several years make some sense in hindsight, given what Palmer showed himself to be in the aftermath of 2010 season.

[HoosierCat]

But to sign the contract and then just plain quit if not traded when the going got tough? That's such an act of cowardice and dishonor that it almost defies comprehension.

As does the continuing level of butthurt among some Bengals fans.

[membengal]

But to sign the contract and then just plain quit if not traded when the going got tough? That's such an act of cowardice and dishonor that it almost defies comprehension.

As does the continuing level of butthurt among some Bengals fans.

Not especially. What I don't get is the need to cast Palmer in the role of victim.

[COB]

In December of 2005 Palmer signed a 6 year extension. They then had him under contract through 20014. He got a $15 million bonus for signing it. I've heard they prorated that bonus over the first few years of the contract, so now Palmer doesn't have to pay any of it back. I can't confirm that.

But if that is the case, I feel Palmer deceived the Bengals. They paid that bonus under the pretense that it was a signing bonus for keeping him in Cinci for 6 years beyond the 3 he still had left on his contract.

Think about it. He was signed through 2008. He got paid 15 million to sign the extension that ran 2009 through 2014. He played exactly 2 years under what was essentially a new contract. But he kept he whole 15 million.

Now he wants traded. And any trade will surely come with a new contract from his new team, and included in that new contract will be a nice fat signing bonus.

I just don't want to think about Carson Palmer anymore.

[derekshank]

But to sign the contract and then just plain quit if not traded when the going got tough? That's such an act of cowardice and dishonor that it almost defies comprehension.

As does the continuing level of butthurt among some Bengals fans.

Not especially. What I don't get is the need to cast Palmer in the role of victim.

Exactly. I'm over Palmer. I'm ready to hear news on the progress of Andy Dalton... but when I visit the site I continue to see some defending something that is pretty indefensible.

I feel similarly about Palmer right now as I have about Chad for the last several years. I wish he would just go away. I'm tired of talking about him.

But as always seems to be the case, some refuse to hold the players accountable for their actions, and instead cast their rage toward a now familiar and conventional scapegoat - Mike Brown. A source of seemingly endless "butthurt"

[HoosierCat]

But to sign the contract and then just plain quit if not traded when the going got tough? That's such an act of cowardice and dishonor that it almost defies comprehension.

As does the continuing level of butthurt among some Bengals fans.

Not especially. What I don't get is the need to cast Palmer in the role of victim.

He's not a victim. Nor is he deserving of such ridiculous hyperbole as "an act of cowardice and dishonor that it almost defies comprehension." He's just another NFL player looking to get out of a contract. This happens on teams all around the league every year. It's just part of the way things work in the NFL, and it's no more cowardly or dishonorable than was Mikey's decision to cut guys like Levi and Willie. They had contracts, too.

[HoosierCat]

But as always seems to be the case, some refuse to hold the players accountable for their actions,

Yeah, I know. Just imagine how much respect I might command if I'd spent last season arguing that the problem wasn't the offensive coordinator and the head coach but rather undisciplined play and poor execution on the part of the players.

Oh, wait...

[membengal]

Yeah, pretty different Hoosier, as COB laid out just above your reply. You can try and deflect that all you want, but the fault for this situation lies with Palmer solely, and cowardly is pretty much the only word that fits.

[membengal]

In December of 2005 Palmer signed a 6 year extension. They then had him under contract through 20014. He got a $15 million bonus for signing it. I've heard they prorated that bonus over the first few years of the contract, so now Palmer doesn't have to pay any of it back. I can't confirm that.

But if that is the case, I feel Palmer deceived the Bengals. They paid that bonus under the pretense that it was a signing bonus for keeping him in Cinci for 6 years beyond the 3 he still had left on his contract.

Think about it. He was signed through 2008. He got paid 15 million to sign the extension that ran 2009 through 2014. He played exactly 2 years under what was essentially a new contract. But he kept he whole 15 million.

Now he wants traded. And any trade will surely come with a new contract from his new team, and included in that new contract will be a nice fat signing bonus.

I just don't want to think about Carson Palmer anymore.

This post is full of win, as the kids nowadays are heard to say.

[HoosierCat]

Yeah, pretty different Hoosier, as COB laid out just above your reply.

Different how? That Palmer had a big signing bonus? That's hardly unique. That he won't have to refund part of it if he retires? That's because the Bengals chose to accelerate the pro-ration of his bonuses, not anything Palmer did. I assume you refer to the idea he only played two years under a new contract, but that simply isn't true. What he signed in December of 2005 was a completely new nine-year deal; he did not play from 2006-08 under the terms of his rookie contract and then have a new contract take effect in 2009.

[COB]

What he signed in December of 2005 was a completely new nine-year deal; he did not play from 2006-08 under the terms of his rookie contract and then have a new contract take effect in 2009.

According to my sources (whatever I find on Google), it wasn't a new deal. It was a six year extension of the contract he was then playing under. In other words, his current contract at the time stayed in effect (though to be fair it stayed in effect with some sweetened terms) for the 3 years left on it, then the same contract was extended for 6 additional years.

Why do I look at this not as a new 9 year deal? Because he was already bought and paid for through 2008. They didn't have to pay him a $15 million bonus to play through 2008, they had already bonused and salaried him for those years.

So why did they pay him a $15 million signing bonus? To lock him up 2009 through 2014. Cut and dried. He only played 2 years of that extension.

I'll go further. As the attached shows, Palmer's deal was reworked in Dec. 2005 not just in regards to the 6 year extension, but they sweetened up the 3 years he had left on his original deal significantly. Here are two paragraphs from the linked story:

"Under the reworked deal, Palmer will get a $15 million bonus -- paid on Feb. 16 -- and a base salary of $6.75 million next season. The Bengals owe him a $9 million option by Jan. 1, 2007 -- they'll have the option of letting the rest of the deal take effect or nullifying it at that time, but have to pay the same amount either way.

His base salaries will increase during the deal, topping out at $14 million in 2014. He'll also get $1 million roster bonuses for each of his last three seasons, bringing the total amount of the reworked, nine-year deal to $118.75 million."

The wording is a little vague, but it is my impression that the $9 million option bonus was new, and it looks like his salary for those 3 remaining years increased. Why? Was all the money offered even without the extension? Did Mike Brown offer to just give Carson a raise with no extension attached. I doubt it.

They had Carson through 2008, they didn't need to give him a raise. They did it to get the extra 6 year extension. So not only did he take the 15 million and only play 2 of the 6 years it was given for, but he took all the other raised pay given to him as an incentive to sign the 6 year extension, then played only 2 seasons of it.

It can be looked at as a new 9 year deal, but it has to be looked at in context with what was already signed and in effect. The more I look at it, the more I believe Carson Palmer and David Dunn robbed the Bengals.

/>http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nfl&id=2274344