If you think Pac-Man Jones is the Lindsay Lohan of football think again. Wide receivers are the biggest basket cases in the NFL. From the disgruntled to the dysfunctional dropping the ball is front and center in the NFL. The why is simple, add win at any cost to colossal ego and you get rocket fuel. So light a match, find the fuse, these guys are good to go and ready to launch...
Chris Henry--Cincinnati Bengals This NFL franchise puts felony on the field. The Bengals had ten players arrested in fourteen months. Is it any wonder they have stripes on the uniform? To stand out in this wild bunch takes a special kind of screwball and Chris Henry's the leader of the pack. March of 2008, previously called a one-man crime wave and cancer by a sentencing Judge, Henry caps his three-season reign of terror, including arrests for supplying booze to three underage females, marijuana possession, aggravated assault with a firearm and DUI, by punching a guy and breaking his car window with a beer bottle. Suspended four games this season for a total of fourteen in the last two for violating NFL conduct policies Henry is tossed after his latest fiasco. But the Bengals have their fingers crossed. Sure the Bengals press release posits the changed man Henry is four months later despite Henry's insistence to the contrary. It also shovels a load of steaming redemption but don't buy it. Injuries to the receiving corps force the Bengals to hold their nose and look the other way. Coach Marvin Lewis calls the emperor naked blaming owner Mike Brown for this latest blunder. Repeating the same mistake and expecting a different outcome is the definition of Cincinnati Bengal insanity. If Henry offers you a beer this season make sure it's in a plastic cup... Matt Jones--Jacksonville Jaguars Speaking of plastic cups, they're in Jones future after he found a whole new way to "blow" by defenders. July 10th, 2008, the 2005 1st-round, 21st-pick is arrested for felony possession of a controlled substance. Thank God it isn't steroids but cocaine still carries a pesky 10-year prison sentence and $10,000 fine. Jones' Dad releases this statement, "...Matt was not in possession of any drugs, but that there were drugs in the vehicle and were located in the closest proximity to Matt." Proving the age old adage, parents are clueless about their kid's drug use, contrary to popular belief, cocaine does not spring from car upholstery like toadstools in Florida. So far Jones, a 6'6", 242-pound combine darling, has failed to live up to his speedy over sized potential. The reality? It's hard to get separation from a CB when you have a #### on your back. Chad Johnson--Cincinnati Bengals Bengals fans might as well turn off the lights and call it a season. Ocho Cinco just turned his off-season trade-me tantrum into a sprained left shoulder faster than you can say phantom contractual pain. The five-time Pro-Bowler got the traveling Jones last season despite a mind-boggling $35-million dollar extension in 2006. In April 2008, Ocho reiterated his trade demand and said he wouldn't attend any workouts, drills or meetings. The same month the Bengals turned down a Redskins trade offer of a 2008 first-rounder and a 2009 pick sending a clear message. Not gonna happen. Somebody has to blink first and Cinco Blinko does in June when he attends a mandatory mini-camp after he reads his contract and realizes he has to play to get paid. Hardly a novel concept but a stunning turn of events to the ego our solar system revolves around. If Johnson continues his downward spiral look for this Bengal to turn White Elephant.
Brandon Marshall--Denver Broncos Baby T.O. is one unlucky guy. March 22, 2008, Marshall slips on a McDonalds bag wrestling at home, falls through a television and sustains right forearm lacerations to an artery, vein, nerve, two tendons and three muscles. Fact is this happens all the time. McDonalds bags are tricky ####s and should never be left unattended. Brandon's on-field potential is unlimited provided off-field antics don't tackle him first. January 1, 2007, Marshall leaves a downtown Denver nightclub in a limo with teammates Javon Walker and Darrent Williams. Williams is killed by unknown assailants who riddle the vehicle in a drive-by shooting. March 26, 2007, Marshall's arrested for domestic violence, charges from the incident are dismissed after he completes anger management counseling. October 22, 2007, Marshall's arrested for DUI. Marshall still faces a two-game NFL suspension if convicted in mid-September of 2008. June 12, 2008, Marshall's ticketed for an illegal lane change, driving without his license and proof of insurance. OK that one is chump change but does fit the web of stupidity woven here. According to the Rocky Mountain News, Douglas County deputies answered a dozen calls to Marshall's home since January, 2006 though not all involve him. August 5, 2008, Firmly in Roger Goodell's cross hairs Marshall snags a three-game suspension due to off-field issues. His suspension will be reduced one-game if he goes to counseling and agrees to other unspecified conditions. Bad luck and domestic violence spell an all too familiar bitter end for this fable.
Of course the kingpen mental case of the receivers would be Rae Carruth who drove along in a second car to watch while the hitman he hired killed his pregnant girlfriend because he didn't want to pay child support.
You really just scratched the surface of the worst ones but I realize a blog can't be 200,000 words and expect anyone to read it. I've been reading about several "star receivers" who also want out/new contract and never forget about Terrel Owens. Just because he hasn't faked a suicide or taken a dump in the training room sink yet this season doesn't mean he's not a hair trigger away from grabbing the microphone yet again at any given moment that he doesn't feel properly respected.
Nique,
You hit the nail on the head! Carruth went from making millions catching a football to pennies for making license plates, Carruth is the biggest dope the NFL ever produced.
I agree, blogs that stray too many words lose the reader. This blog and the last required so much back story it was hard to avoid creeping towards 1,000 words, about 250 more than I like...
TO's carcass of stupidity has been picked clean so many times it's hardly worth recounting...plus I wanted to avoid dredging up past receivers like Carruth...
Last edited by edhardiman on August 20th at 3:23 AM.
Hardiman-
Great scribble for a duck- I still dont see how you type with wings but however you do it you do it well.
How someone making millions can be so ignorent to just take a chance of throwing it all away is beyond me even farther beyond me is how some NFL teams keep taking them back.
JW,
Typing with wings is easy it's buying a shirt with the proper cuff length off the rack that sucks...When the owner wants to play rotisserie football it seldom results in W's. The kinds of players on the Bengals indicates he interferes with drafting them too.
Jerry Jones & the Cowboys are an example of a team who gathers knuckleheads like this and succeeds but they are the lucky exception rather than the rule...
aero,
Well said and what have the Bengals accomplished amassing a prison team? You'd think with Palmer, Housh, and Ocho you'd maximize their success by building a stable cast of characters around them instead of the cast from early episode of Prison Break...
WR's are stuck on them selves they think that they're what makes the team go. WR's act like with out them the team don't win.So they carry that same cocky attitude off the field.
Interesting that 3 of these 4 players you mentioned have uniform numbers in the teens. I guess they think they're too good to wear a number in the 80's.
Whatever happened to the days of team-first wide receivers like Art Monk?
Pull a Tampa Bay ( Keyshawn Johnson sitting on the bench ) on their issued ladened lives and see where that puts their mental status. Don't the players only get paid for games and not the other daily grind of a season. Tell the problem child not to show up at pracice or any facilities, but be in uniform and on the bench at game day for his pay check. They don't perform no money, and we all know that money makes the world go around.
Actually, T.O. has just taken his first step to taking a dump in the sink at Cowboys HQ. In his proclamation that the preseason troubles of the Cowboys' 'O' would disappear when they 'flip the switch,' he also managed to deflect blame for last year's playoff defeat at the hands of the Giants, claiming they would have won if only the Cowboys (i.e. the QB he cried for, Romo, and the coaching staff) had given him a bigger role in the game and thrown him more passes.
Well, Dallas fans, this is how it starts. Hope they keep him happy. This is why Philly fans were happy to see him pack it up. And say what you want, the Eagles have been much further in the playoffs without him (He didn't play in the '04 playoffs until the Super Bowl, having been injured by Roy Williams of the Cowboys during the season) than your squad has been with him. I will be surprised if anyone can win a Super Bowl with that guy on the roster. Let the 'me-me-me' begin in Irving.
As an aside, I dislike the Cowboys- but Romo's a good QB, they have a good team. I wouldn't be surprised to see them in SB contention far into the future once Romo doesn't have to worry about keeping T.O.'s ego from killing the team. They say he's 'changed,' but a changed man doesn't blame the team for a playoff loss and his own relatively poor stats in comparison to his usual.
And bringing up Rae Carruth- dude, that was hilarious. And totally true. What a ####. "Boo hoo, hundreds of thousands to millions a year isn't enough for child support." That's what you call a Latrell Sprewell moment.
DF,
You make a great point about pre-impaired, and I'm not going to suppose the malcontents on the great Raiders teams were choirboys but I remember them less for weapons charges, and wife-beating and more for hell raising, viking lifestyles. Did the boys on the bus cover it up? I'm sure. I forget who made the point about the sport of baseball hasn't gotten small its that television got so much bigger than it...the 24-hour maw of ESPN is crushing sports like Godzilla picking daisies...
ian,
I'm reminded of what Vince Lombardi and later Joe Paterno said to rookies who celebrated in the end zone. Why don't you act like you've been there before...
Last edited by edhardiman on August 20th at 10:27 AM.
mekon,
You're right, that's the solution, but no Coach is willing to bench a $500,000 per game baby while the owner is sitting right behind him...annual contracts based on overall minutes played would certainly fix the problem I just don't see the players union biting on that...
Last edited by edhardiman on August 20th at 10:32 AM.
Caedus,
Great points, well said, the Cowboys have a great team notwithstanding my long and bitter hatred of them. Wade Phillips is a good coach too. Like any Iggles or SF fan knows, it isn't will TO explode like a cheap watch, it's just a matter of when...as for Carruth he's a #### triple murderer who was hiding in the trunk of a car when they arrested him. I'm pretty sure he qualifies as the stupidest man on the planet if not solar system. What a dope. Good riddance.
edhard'
If the NFL and their teams aren't prepared to make an example of these players. Then expect the sort of decision made here by the Bengals to be repeated by a number of teams. It's totally insane that someone like Marvin Lewis should cave in like this because of the owner and GM.
But it'd appear that Malcom knew what he was talking about when he stated ' by any means necessary '. If it provides the team with the win even if you end up selling your soul to the Devil. What the hell should you care what the public thinks ?
nfl teams need to get a clue wide receivers are a dime a dozen, receivers dont win championships, great qbs , great olines and great delines win champion ships.........wide receivers are over paid across the board
edhard'
Well if they should fall flat on their a## because of this then expect a certain amount of ridicule at their expense. My brother and I as well as a couple of pals are hitting one or two London nightspots for some good ol' debauchery.
God knows it's been a long time since I've done anything like that in the city of London. Well it's been at least 18 years to my knowledge. I arrived here on Sunday and it's been none stop partying and booze. Though not necessarily all in that order you understand. I'll be back stateside on the 8th September.
Speaking as a former WR, not of NFL calibur though. It is all attitude (psychological), the no one can stop me, no one can cover me, and I have great hands mentality. The craziness stems from many things and not one can be pin-pointed.
I personally think the ones that screw up and are mental problems to their teams are looking for validation in an environment where they don't need it. For every T.O. there is a Jerry Rice,
for Rae Carruth a Tim Brown, for Chad Johnson and Chris Henry there are Marvin Harrison and
Reggie Wayne. The difference is they did their talking on the field!!!
Al,
Try to remember a Bobby is not just another guy in a pub wearing a funny hat...hope you enjoy your pub-crawling and drink as much as you can right up until departure a hangover beats jet-lag every time...
Last edited by edhardiman on August 20th at 12:04 PM.
Fantom,
As an athlete who frequently tied one shoe to the other I never let my lack of coordination, skill or accomplishment cloud my ego...but you're spot on, action speaks louder than words.
wow i dont think you can really tag chris henry for even being with darrent williams and javon walker when their limo got shot up...thats not his fault or any of the players in the limo so thats some BS even putting that in this blog
Wr's are headache's, but they are the one's who get you big plays and big chunks of yardage.
And on the Bengals, I guess Chad is distracting his defense from stopping anyone. His riverdance forced his defense to blow assignments and miss tackles. I don't have a problem with WR antics on the field, but I hate when Chad gets blamed for Marvin Lewis lack of defense. (Not that you did that).
jtims,
With all due respect the sentence "Baby T.O. is one unlucky guy" pretty much covers being in a car shot full of holes. I didn't say it was his fault. Unless maybe somebody somewhere considers being shot at lucky...
"wow i dont think you can really tag chris henry for even being with darrent williams and javon walker when their limo got shot up...thats not his fault or any of the players in the limo so thats some BS even putting that in this blog "
first off you mean Marshall.. 2nd he is the one that was spraying the people in the club with champaign.. but it was darrent williams's friends throwing gang signs that probably put it over the top and got whoever ever wit this crowd shot at...
KK,
You said it great point. Football's a disciplined endeavor, timed routes, blocking assignments, split-second reads, coverages, audibles, are the Bengals ever going to find those skills in guys who can't stay out of jail? I think of Ocho as disgruntled only not anywhere near the lifestyle train wreck Henry is or continues to be. What I don't understand is the Bengals have a great nucleus and squander it allowing an owner to make substandard fantasy football decisions like taking Henry back when they need to field 22 guys who can focus on winning games instead of making bail...
milehigh,
Thanks, I knew what he was referring to and it was a tragedy but stand by my statement it's unlucky as hell to be in a car that gets ventilated by a drive by knucklehead with no respect for human life or dignity. Darrent didn't deserve his fate. Marshall seems to have learned nothing from it.
ehard'
I'm not overly worried by the bobby's as they too have a job to do.
Hell once they see some of our ID's I doubt that they'll be giving us that much trouble to begin with.
edhard'
If that should then expect an e-mail from me from across the pond. I always travel with several pieces of ID. I've an international driver's license on me at all times. As well as my old military ID.
Getting ready to head on out with my brother to a club along with some friends.
It'd appear that the birth of his twins'll take a few more days. That's unless my sister-in-law is induced into labor. We'll be on our best behavior and uphold those military ideals . Whilst at the same time sinking a few pints as well as a bottle or two of whiskey on your behalf, if that's OK with you ?
Awesome topic....Maybe we ought to forward it to Mike Brown.
Receivers have a hard time sharing the spotlight with the QB's, so some tend to make their own headlines.
Marv Lewis ought to peter slap Mike Brown right back. He ought to pull a page outta Tuna's book, the "pink" practice jersey he had Terry Glenn wear, have the Bungals wear a mandatory orange jumpsuit with "Property of the Bengals" across the back, make them wear it in place of the current business attire the stroll to the games in.
If you think Pac-Man Jones is the Lindsay Lohan of football think again. Wide receivers are the biggest basket cases in the NFL. From the disgruntled to the dysfunctional dropping the ball is front and center in the NFL. The why is simple, add win at any cost to colossal ego and you get rocket fuel. So light a match, find the fuse, these guys are good to go and ready to launch...
This NFL franchise puts felony on the field. The Bengals had ten players arrested in fourteen months. Is it any wonder they have stripes on the uniform? To stand out in this wild bunch takes a special kind of screwball and Chris Henry's the leader of the pack. March of 2008, previously called a one-man crime wave and cancer by a sentencing Judge, Henry caps his three-season reign of terror, including arrests for supplying booze to three underage females, marijuana possession, aggravated assault with a firearm and DUI, by punching a guy and breaking his car window with a beer bottle. Suspended four games this season for a total of fourteen in the last two for violating NFL conduct policies Henry is tossed after his latest fiasco. But the Bengals have their fingers crossed. Sure the Bengals press release posits the changed man Henry is four months later despite Henry's insistence to the contrary. It also shovels a load of steaming redemption but don't buy it. Injuries to the receiving corps force the Bengals to hold their nose and look the other way. Coach Marvin Lewis calls the emperor naked blaming owner Mike Brown for this latest blunder. Repeating the same mistake and expecting a different outcome is the definition of Cincinnati Bengal insanity. If Henry offers you a beer this season make sure it's in a plastic cup...
Speaking of plastic cups, they're in Jones future after he found a whole new way to "blow" by defenders. July 10th, 2008, the 2005 1st-round, 21st-pick is arrested for felony possession of a controlled substance. Thank God it isn't steroids but cocaine still carries a pesky 10-year prison sentence and $10,000 fine. Jones' Dad releases this statement, "...Matt was not in possession of any drugs, but that there were drugs in the vehicle and were located in the closest proximity to Matt." Proving the age old adage, parents are clueless about their kid's drug use, contrary to popular belief, cocaine does not spring from car upholstery like toadstools in Florida. So far Jones, a 6'6", 242-pound combine darling, has failed to live up to his speedy over sized potential. The reality? It's hard to get separation from a CB when you have a 
Bengals fans might as well turn off the lights and call it a season. Ocho Cinco just turned his off-season trade-me tantrum into a sprained left shoulder faster than you can say phantom contractual pain. The five-time Pro-Bowler got the traveling Jones last season despite a mind-boggling $35-million dollar extension in 2006. In April 2008, Ocho reiterated his trade demand and said he wouldn't attend any workouts, drills or meetings. The same month the Bengals turned down a Redskins trade offer of a 2008 first-rounder and a 2009 pick sending a clear message. Not gonna happen. Somebody has to blink first and Cinco Blinko does in June when he attends a mandatory mini-camp after he reads his contract and realizes he has to play to get paid. Hardly a novel concept but a stunning turn of events to the ego our solar system revolves around. If Johnson continues his downward spiral look for this Bengal to turn White Elephant.
Baby T.O. is one unlucky guy. March 22, 2008, Marshall slips on a McDonalds bag wrestling at home, falls through a television and sustains right forearm lacerations to an artery, vein, nerve, two tendons and three muscles. Fact is this happens all the time. McDonalds bags are tricky 
