I think it's safe to say who WON'T be winning the man of the year

After getting pulled over by police in Arizona just three days ago, the Chicago Bears have released defensive tackle, Tank Johnson. Johnson who had been released from jail after spending two months in prison for gun charges that were filed after police raided his home and found a plethora(ha now I feel smart for saying "plethora") of guns. Two days after the raid, Johnson's bodyguard and close friend was shot and killed at a night club that the two men had attended.

"We are upset and embarrassed by Tank's actions last week," general manager Jerry Angelo said in a statement. "He compromised the credibility of our organization. We made it clear to him that he had no room for error. Our goal was to help someone through a difficult period in his life, but the effort needs to come from both sides. It didn't, and we have decided to move on."

Johnson had already been suspended for the first eight games of the season after having a meeting with the NFL's new commissioner, Roger Goodell. Johnson told Goodell that he wouldn't have anymore run ins with the police and he had intentions on winning the NFL's Man of the Year which goes to the player that shows excellent behavior on and off the field. I think it's pretty safe to say good ole Tank won't be taking that award home anytime soon.

Well shit, looks like Chris Henry is going to be banned for life

Right after Cincinnati Bengal's widereciever, Chris Henry, received his eight-game ban from the NFL's new commisoner, Roger Goodell, he was told that if he had anymore run ins with the law he would then receive a lifetime ban from the NFL.

Well, it looks like that ban will happen, if the latest allegations that Henry, along with teammate, Reggie McNeal, were involved in assaulting a 16-year old boy late last Friday night.

"Police say the 16-year-old and an 18-year-old friend were walking along Wetherington Boulevard near Mt. Zion Road just after 11 p.m. Friday night when, they say a black Navigator or Escalade pulled up next to them.

According to the police report, a white male jumped out and started punching the 16-year-old in the face.

"From that, the victim tells us another gentleman got out of the vehicle the same vehicle and in their attempt to get away, was shoved to the ground by this African American gentleman," said Cloyd.

The teen identified that man as Bengals receiver Chris Henry, and says receiver Reggie McNeill was also in the vehicle.

The teen also alleges that they were throwing beer bottles at him as he tried to run away."

Yeah, is it sad that i'm not even surprised by this, I mean he has been arrested four times in the past year and a half, and this is just another notch on his already very long rap sheet. I don't know if anything will happen as a result of these allagations so he may still be on our team and I do like him, on the field of course, I mean he's really good but fuck it, release/suspend/trade him, I don't care, we still have Chad and T.J. and we can always go out and get another receiver via free-agency/trade/draft. I'm tired of reading about Bengal players getting into fucking troulbe...it's gotta end somewhere, so why not get rid of the player that really started all of it.

UPDATE: With Leather just updated with conflicting reports from a rival station to WCPO that say that the assault claims against Henry are unfounded, so I guess that's a good thing...

"Commenter Scott points out that a rival station has a source that says the accusations were unfounded. So I guess Bengals players are the new bogeyman in Cincinnati. Kids get beat up by grown men, they just assume it was Bengals. Fair enough."

Duke's reportedly got a 17-year old girl pregnant

As if it couldn't get worse for the Devil Ray's troubled(understatement) outfielder, Elijah Dukes, he has now reportedly gotten a 17-year old girl pregnant. And that's not the worst part, the 17-year old is a foster child and has been living with a relative of Dukes'.

"A 17-year-old foster girl living with a relative of Elijah Dukes told police the Devil Rays outfielder got her pregnant.Detectives believe the sex was consensual and no crime was committed, but the incident has sparked a state investigation into the foster home.

The girl, expected to give birth Nov. 5, told investigators she and Dukes had consensual sex on the living room sofa. She said Dukes got angry when she and another person confronted him about the pregnancy.

“Yeah, we sat down and told him and he got mad and threw a Gatorade at me,” she told investigators.

Dukes’ mother, Phyllis Dukes, said she didn’t know about the allegations.
“He’s doing well on the field,” she said. “He’s doing so good. It’s just every time he turns around there’s something coming at him.”

This latest story comes just weeks after his now ex-wife, filed for divorce with Dukes after he had reportedly threatened her and her children. NiShea Gilbert also filed for a restraining order after Duke barged into her workplace, a middle school classroom of all places, and threatened to beat her and then kill her. No children were present at the time, but Dukes' sent a picture of his gun to Gilbert's cellphone along with this message:

"Hey, dawg. It's on, dawg. You dead, dawg. I ain't even bulls-------. Your kids too, dawg. It don't even matter to me who is in the car with you. N-----, all I know is, n-----, when I see your m-----f------- a-- riding, dawg, it's on. As a matter of fact, I'm coming to your m-----f------ house."

Dukes' is just a rookie for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and he is very talented with the ability to hit the ball very, very far, but it looks as if his career with the D-Rays might soon come to an end. Dukes' just can't stay out of trouble, whether it be with marijuana or violence towards his now ex-wife, he just can't stay out of trouble off the field. Dukes' has been arrested six times since 1998 and it appears this latest incident will be the final straw with Tampa.

Also see this story on the Fanhouse(new and improved), Can't stop the bleeding, With Leather and Deadspin.

Odell Thurman > Pac Man Jones and Chris Henry

The insanity just will not stop, With Leather is reporting that he got an email from a tipster that attended a house party with Bengal's troubled linebacker, Odell Thurman and he said Thurman kicked the shit out of some guy and later returned with an "entourage" equiped with guns. Matt Ufford put it so much better, here's what he said.

According to the tipster, Thurman attended a house party in his hometown of Monticello, Georgia Saturday night. At around 3 a.m. on Sunday morning, he was grinding on another partygoer's girlfriend, which upset the partygoer in question. Said partygoer asked Thurman to stop, then returned his attention to a game of pool. The rest of the story, according to the email I received:

Big mistake. Thurman ran up to the guy, pushed him down, and kicked the shit out of his face knocking the guy out. He then left, and moments later came back with his entourage carrying guns. Some of the people there were able to calm him down, and get him to leave for good.

The Monticelloo Police Department couldn't provide me with any details, and I got voicemail when I called the county courthouse. But you can expect to see charges filed against Thurman by the end of the day, and Len Pasquarelli will probably have the full story sometime later this afternoon. You know, if this is all true.

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with the host of the party. Although he was upstairs when the fight began, he corroborated the story above. And to be fair to Thurman, it appears that he returned with guns and friends with guns only after people at the party pulled guns on him.

SECOND UPDATE: A tipster sent along the picture below, which is supposedly of the victim's cut lip, courtesy Odell's foot. I've also received word that Thurman tried to buy his victim's silence. And just for fun: it was on Friday that Thurman got sentenced to six days in rehab with two years probation for his DUI conviction.

He also included a picture of the guy who was supposedly kicked in the face by Thurman and well, he looks pretty bad. I fully expect, if it's true, this guy to press charges on Thurman, who would then go to jail and subsequently be released from the Bengals. Which sucks because he had a hell of a rookie season back in 2005 when he made 106 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 5 interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. But has since then been suspended multiple times including a one-year ban from the league last season. But even with all that the Bengal's were willing to give him another chance at resuming his career in Cincinnati but with this latest news, i'd be surprised if he remains on the roster.