Bengals Feel Lions' Pain
Geoff Hobson, cincinnatibengals.com
The Bengals are walking into a Lions den of protestors Sunday livid over the way the Lions have been managed during a stretch the club has a 20-57 record since Matt Millen became president. Millen claimed his second head coach last month when he canned Steve Mariucci before his third season was complete.
Fans are being urged to adopt the Bengals for the day by wearing orange and radio station WDFN-AM is directing an “Angry Fan March” around Ford Field before the game.
It hits a little too close to home for Bengals veterans who endured similar ire during the first three seasons of Paul Brown Stadium, when the Bengals went 12-36 before the hiring of head coach Marvin Lewis.
“Protests?” second-year linebacker Landon Johnson asked, and eight-year linebacker Brian Simmons smiled and put his hand on Johnson’s shoulder.
“Now here is an example of the new guys,” Simmons said. “It doesn’t matter what happened before with this team. He doesn’t know about it. He doesn’t know about the fans that came to the game with bags over their heads. He doesn’t know they put up signs that got pulled down by security, or people flying airplanes over with messages.
“It’s not fair to the players. These guys are putting it on the line.”
Right tackle Willie Anderson, the man who has played in more Bengals games than anyone still active with 155, cringes at the mention of the protests and just hopes the Bengals don’t get caught up in it as a guy who has been on teams that could only spoil playoff runs.
“Detroit can still play football. I’m sure their players aren’t asking for any sympathy. I’m sure they’re going to turn it around,” Anderson said. “I’ve been through seven years of crazy stuff, but things are going to turn around because those guys have the talent.
I’m not going to sit here and worry about what their fans are going to do. I’m sure their fans may have a change of heart. I can’t worry about that. What I do know looking at this film, this defensive line doesn’t give a damn about what these fans are doing. Their defensive line is not the reason for their record. Or their entire defense.”
Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer says his team has heard it might have some new fans Sunday, and he thinks it might help that it has some players who have been through the same thing.
“One thing is, our team, a lot of guys who have been here for a long time, know what it's like to be on that end of a losing season and a coach possibly getting fired,” Palmer said. “A coach got fired. You understand that some teams in that situation just hope for the season to be over. And we understand that we need to go in and handle our business and not worry about who's cheering for who, what boycott's going on, if a guy's running through the stands with a sign that says "Fire Millen," we can't worry about that.
“It comes down to the same thing we talk about week-in and week-out; we need to handle our business. We need to do what we do well and not worry about what they're doing defensively, what's going on in the stands, what's going on, on their sideline. We just need to handle our jobs."
As Lewis said, “Their problems can't become our problems. We've got business to take care of. It's a big football game for us. We're going to prepare that way. We've got to be ready to play our tails off.”
