The Cincinnati Bengals have made some drastic changes over the past six months. Some of the changes the team willingly made themselves, like trading their all-time leading receiver Chad Ochocinco and cutting Antwan Odom loose. Other changes were forced onto the team by their own players, like their franchise quarterback, Carson Palmer demanding a trade and ultimately retiring, and by free agency, like losing Johnathan Joseph to the Texans.
Now that the team is in camp, some of the more veteran players are looking around and noticing the big changes. The offense's most veteran player, guard Bobbie Williams, who came to Cincinnati in 2004, says he's never seen anything like the changes that the Bengals have gone through in such a short period of time. However, he doesn't necessarily think the changes are a bad thing. According to the mothership, he's still proud to be a part of the team.
"Never. Never seen anything like this in my time in the NFL," said right guard Bobbie Williams, now the offense's most senior as a 2004 member, as he noticed the missing. "Familiar faces that have been here since I've been here. Guys that were staples and cornerstones and personalities. Those were changes they made and they feel they needed to make them. I'm proud to be on this team. I like what I see."
Maybe Williams is saying this because he feels he has to as a veteran leader. Maybe he really means it. Either way, we can all agree that while some change is usually a good thing, a lot of change in the NFL on a team filled with rookies and coming out of the longest lockout in league history might not be so great. I know we're not expecting the Bengals to parade the Lombardi Trophy down the streets of Cincinnati this season, but what can we expect from them?
It's likely that the team be starting a rookie quarterback and he'll be throwing the ball to a group of receivers who have no, to one year's worth of experience. There is no news on who will be carrying the ball. The defense will be under the wing of a new middle linebacker, Rey Maualuga, and the secondary just took a huge hit. Somebody, quick.... hand me that paper bag. I'm starting to hyper..... ventil..... ate.
Thanks, I'm better now. I'm beginning to think that I should go into every game in the 2011 season and expect the team to lose. That way, any wins seem like an awesome gift. That isn't the way I really figured I would be with this team, but I guess that's what being a Bengals fan has turned me into.
Hopefully I'll start seeing the team through William's eyes soon.