The problem with a stigma is that they don't go away. Often, these days, the Bengals are still the poster children for for an incredible stretch of misconduct -- in 2006. The last Bengals player arrested was Quincy Wilson on June 18, 2007, charged with disorderly conduct for refusing to disperse among a large crowd. Before that, Johnathan Joseph was arrested for possession of marijuana on January 22, 2007. In between Henry failed to use his turn signal. Levi Jones was jumped by Joey Porter and his posse -- who never received a suspension, by the way. The remaining arrests, against Bengals players, occurred before 2007.
To say it's been a long time, in comparison to the conduct of other team's players, becomes a mild understatement.
I took Mark Madden's piece comparing the Steelers and Bengals for their respective conduct issues. The context of the title "Steelers no different than Bengals" jacks an assortment of extreme debates. Many of which resemble the Bengals as the typical conduct benchmark. Madden makes the point, which is partly my own assumption, that there's little noise from the league, media or even the fans regarding Steelers players getting arrested.
I have a theory. Fans and media expect it. It's even defining NFL Chancellor Roger Goodell's legacy. You might get a blurb on the headlines of ESPN.com's home page, but that's the brightest the spotlight shines. NFL player arrested? What's new? Sad.
So the NFL beat rolls on.
In other topics, Chad is confirming what we already knew; he went apeshit during half time of the 2005 Wild Card game and that he had to be restrained. Actually, do we really care what Chad says or doesn't say anymore? Should we boycott all Chad Johnson related items outside of actual football?