Bengals Andrew Whitworth: Lockouts Breed Laziness

Just in case any of you were hoping that we'd be watching the highest caliber of football come the start of the season, and that players would be training at their highest level on their own, Andrew Whitworth (who I will affectionately refer to as Captain Buzzkill) has some other things to say. He told reporters that,

Guys are human beings. And if you tell guys 'It doesn't look like you're doing anything until July or August,' guys will lose a lot of incentive to train and to get better.

What? Not all NFL players are self-motivated masochists who daily beat their bodies to submission by subjecting themselves to activities that would have been thought of as torture in centuries past? Who'd have thunk it.

He goes on to say,

You will get a lot of guys who will say, 'We're not even going to play. I'm not going to work hard all the time.' You're going to ruin the chance for quality football. There will be more injuries and things that affect the game. Period.

I have to say from my own experience that Captain Buzzkill is right. There's something about a red-faced, screaming coach ordering you to run one more ladder (or suicide) that tends to push you to go that extra mile. Would Luke Skywalker have become a Jedi if it hadn't been for his training under Yoda on planet Dagobah? Would Rocky have made it to the title bout against Apollo if it hadn't been for Mic telling him "You're gonna eat lightning and you're gonna crap thunder!"??? The answer has to be a resounding "No!" So perhaps Whit has a fair point.

Fortunately for the Bengals, they have themselves a natural born leader, a man who commands limited respect, a warm body who's willing to round up his receivers for a little throwing practice in Jordan Palmer. If ever this team was in need of a strong leader, the time would be now.

Too bad Carson didn't pan out.