There are days that I can stand James Walker. There are times that I can't stand James Walker. Today is one of those days. While the writer with extensive knowledge on building NFL franchises -- the same writer that spent countless posts obsessing about Ben Roethlisberger off the field issues for weeks -- he literally takes the Bengals to task writing:
But also show me a team that consistently cuts corners and ignores character and I'll show you the Bengals -- a franchise that's never won a Super Bowl and hasn't posted back-to-back winning seasons in 28 years. If the goal is winning championships, there's more than enough evidence Cincinnati's way of doing business doesn't work.
You know, I could go into one of my rants. I could say that Walker's overreaction that, apparently in his mind, Adam Jones is suddenly the face of the franchise and the team's only defensive player. But I won't. I could compare Walker's obvious favoritsm with the Ravens and Steelers, all the while not giving the Bengals much of a fair shake. But I won't. I could say that Adam Jones is really pointless in the grand scheme of things with the foundation that's already built with this defense. But I won't.
You know why I won't? Because I think Walker has a problem. An addiction. An obsession. And there's no one in the world that sees it like we do. There's no one in the world that's willing to help. And we should be more accepting of his problem and be willing to help him, rather than reacting to his blanket pieces that disregards everything else about this team.
In his mind, the Bengals are literally terrorists. I'm not certain, but I'm sure that when he goes to Cincinnati, he has Jack Bauer on speed dial and Chloe O'Brien tracking the team's movements after practice. "Damn it Chloe," Walker shouts in his cell phone. "I need you to hack into Carson Palmer's computer. I'm sure his all-around good guy persona is a front for illegal business operations that trades black market weapons and heroin."
So while you see, or read Walker, just shake your head and maybe, just maybe, reach out to the troubled man and let him know that we're here for him. We want him to get better. That's how we do it in Cincinnati. We want to help. And Mr. Walker, we want to help you.