“This time the Bengals have gone too far”, it began.
The editorial board of Cincinnati ABC affiliate WCPO was not happy with the Cincinnati Bengals—or more specifically, one draft pick in particular. And they are calling for action.
The Pittsburgh Steelers may have landed a “Steelers-type” running back in James Conner, but in a way, the Bengals got theirs as well when they drafted Joe Mixon in the second round, a player with a rap sheet.
“Over and over, the Bengals have drafted, signed and stood by players with troubled legal backgrounds or other concerns that make them less-than-stellar role models”, the article starts out. “But the Bengals drafting Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon — on top of the team’s tacit support of Adam Jones — is disgraceful”.
Those who have not actually watched the video of Mixon’s hard right into the face of a young female acquaintance in 2014 can feel free to do so in the video embedded in the article linked above. History has shown that seeing is not only believing, but understanding. “Even Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops admitted after he saw the video last December that suspending Mixon for an entire season was not enough punishment”, the editorial noted.
The Bengals and owner Mike Brown apparently were hoping to be able to add this football player to a roster that has more than one other character question marks already on the payroll, but it doesn’t seem as though they will be getting their wish.
The Bengals can’t control how a player acts. But they can control how the organization handles incidents like Adam Jones’ arrest. The team can control the types of players it signs, drafts and trades for.
Apparently, Mike Brown, Marvin Lewis and the Bengals management think winning is all that matters. Apparently, those franchise leaders don’t care about potentially alienating the team’s female fans.
It’s time we as fans tried to teach this team a lesson. We say tried because at this point, we have to wonder if the leaders of this team will EVER get it.
Maybe the only way is through the Bengals’ pocketbook.
We are urging every Bengals fan to take drastic action.
Instead of buying a Bengals ticket this year, take the $50 or more you would have spent on that ticket and donate the money to a nonprofit that works to prevent violence against women. We have included a list of organizations below.
Enough is enough, Bengals. We can excuse another season without winning a playoff game.
We can’t excuse drafting a player like Joe Mixon.
It might be with a bit of a chuckle that we read that the Bengals are only interested in winning when considering how many decades it has been since they have won a playoff game, but in this instance, Cincinnati obviously overlooked Mixon’s off-field character—including a 2016 incident in which he inched forward in his vehicle at a parking attendant in order to intimidate her—because of their belief that he can help them winning.
For many, winning isn’t everything.
