Rashad Jeanty: This One Actually Hurts

I wish I had time to get to this yesterday but was busy scrambling after the weekend.  While ultimately I can find comedy and a silver-lining with the high profile Antonio Bryant disaster, I can find nothing of the sort with the Bengals decision to let go of Rashad Jeanty.  Similar to how the Bengals buried the decision to bring the hugely unpopular Brat back in an article about the extension of the hugely popular Mike Zimmer, the Bengals slipped the release of Jeanty into a casual "Update" mostly about the cutting of Bryant.   I first saw the news via Joe Reedy who also appeared surprised and rightly described the move as "a shocker".

The Bengals did this, I would imagine, because both moves sucked and they wanted to avoid the attention.

Well, Jeanty's agent seems determined to make sure that never happens.  He came out blazing, publicly criticizing the Bengals for mishandling Jeanty's injury and creating this predicament in the first place.  Good for him.  For those counting, that's yet another instance of questionable medical judgment by the Bengals staff, and the second in as many days.  But we'll come back to that issue another time.

Instead, I'd prefer to simply note that this is all very shitty.  Because Jeanty a) is a raging bad ass, b) provides critical depth at linebacker, c) provides stability in the locker room and d) is just the type of guy the Bengals should reward, not punish.  I enjoyed Cnati.com while it existed and perhaps my favorite piece they ever produced was this profile of Rashad Jeanty.  I throw out lots of links.  Make sure you read it.  Here it is again.  Just in case.  Some quotes:

"He probably has the highest pain tolerance of anyone in the world," said fellow linebacker Keith Rivers.

(on missing 2nd half a game after broken bone pierced out through the skin) "It's hard to let your teammates down. I feel bad, I've got to be down to not play," Jeanty said. "It's how I feel, I have to play for my teammates. To hell with me, it's for my teammates. I take pride in that, I'm sensitive about my teammates."

Despite starting 15 games for the Bengals at Sam linebacker in 2008, he was pushed from starter to backup when the team selected Rey Maualuga in the second round of the draft. Despite playing the same position, Jeanty has served as a mentor to Maualuga.

I could keep going but I'll stop there.  Literally every sentence in the article reinforces what a remarkably tough, selfless, and dedicated teammate Jeanty was.  So to see it end abrubtly and potentially due to the Bengals own ineptitude fucking pisses me off.  And just when I thought I couldn't get more pissed off, I read Rob Weintraub's twitter feed and saw yet another take:

Strange that Mike Brown--Mr. Open Arms for erratic knuckleheads--would chuck a good soldier like Rashad so cavalierly.

(nodding head in agreement)

Anyway, as Mr Weintraub goes onto note, forget the Bryant thing, this release is the one that is truly awful.  Was Jeanty a super critical piece necessary for a playoff run, well, hopefully not.  But who knows?  And more importantly, who cares?  Even if Jeanty ultimately was expendable, the circumstances of his release reflects horribly on the Bengals.  Welcome to Bengals fandom, where even during an offseason of promise and excitement, Mike Brown still seems to find a way to taint it.

I hope Jeanty lands on a team where he will be appreciated.  He deserves better than the jokers who run the Bengals.

Comments

[HappyNat]

Agreed this is a bad move that could not have been handled worse. When there is a guy like this on my team it makes me feel better about rooting for laundry. I don't even have any thing semi-funny or snarky to say.

Fuck Mike Brown. Fuck. That. Guy.

[Sleeping With Bieniemy]

Yes. Fuck him.

[CurseofBoJackson]

Jack Brennan (or whatever his name is, PR guy) has to have one of the hardest jobs. Perhaps BP should hire him. Nothing to add that hasn't been said, greedy nepotistic shortsighted lawyer douches run my most favorite thing to watch and root for, great.

[Ray]

This hurts mostly because it illustrates more medical staff ineptitude, not because of Jeanty's talent.

Is he a good guy? Yes. Will is absence on the depth chart hurt. No. This guy was a serviceable back-up, but a liability in defending the pass. I would rather shift things around to get Brandon Johnson on the field more, see what the young guys can bring, or get more experience for hybrid guys like Michael Johnson.

[Reydawg]

I love Jeanty But I did not see him making the team this year...He was always a solid player but never a playmaker and we just are to deep at Linebacker now.

PS,Blame Mike Brown and origination all you want but this was probably zimmers decision to keep him or let him go.

[reydawg]

Also he should have got a 2nd opinion after the Bengals medical Staff Alot of players don't only use their team doctors...

So it's and his agents own fault.

[TheCarlPickensClause]

Agree and disagree with this one. Jeanty was a great guy and a hustler, but I wouldn't call him a "raging bad ass" or as "providing CRITICAL depth at the LB position". He started and played decent football in '08, but if you thought that he was a long-term answer at that position, or if you think that Special Teams or the LB Corps will take a major hit with him gone, then you're taking crazy pills. I'd like to still have him in the locker room and "mentoring Rey Maualuga", but there's a reason he was in the CFL and the Bengals were the only team he's played for.
So, while the medical staff probably screwed up his diagnosis (not giving them a pass at all on that one), he still should have gotten a second opinion and done his due diligence. For instance, I work at a University. If I'm sick or injured and I decide to go to the on-campus health center for treatment, I'm still probably going to my own doctor, that I've gone to since high school, to make sure he says something similar. Another instance: in high school, I made the baseball team. My high school had a recommendation for a health clinic to get my physical done in order to be on the team. I had never been to this clinic before. The doctor diagnosed me with a heart murmur (of which I had no prior history of having) and she wouldn't pass me for my physical. I then went to the above-mentioned doctor after the initial diagnosis and he checked me out pretty thorougly and never heard it. To this day when I see him, he still says "I still don't hear that heart murmur". So, long story short, Jeanty should have gotten a second opinion.
It sucks they cut him and did so pretty unfairly, but he wasn't going to contribue this season. Time for both parties to move on. So, while i understand that Jeanty and his agent are angry, he should also have SOME sense of gratitude to the Bengals for at least giving him a shot in the NFL, which no other team was willing to do.

They still need to fix the medical staff though. Haha.

[Mockenrue]

http://espn.go.com/gen/s/2002/0912/1431170.html

It's from 2002, but it ranks the player satisfaction, by percentage, with their team's medical staffs. The Bengals rank 31 of 31 (Houston was an expansion team that season and didn't have any real data), with only 19% of the players expressing satisfaction with the medical staff Mike Brown put in place. Compare that with the fact that half the league was at 90% or better (including usual suspects like Baltimore, New England, Pittsburgh, and yes, even Tampa Bay), or the fact that the next worst team, Arizona, sported a 50% satisfaction rate? Versus NINETEEN?

Again, old stats, but that's disastrously low.

[Major Payne]

I whole-heartedly agree that cutting Jeanty was done about as lame-assed as it could be. I'd say that MikeyBoy ought to be ashamed, but I honestly question that he is capable of embarassment. It's one more Brown stain in the toilet bowl of MikeyBoy's legacy.

[james walker]

Email Print Comments99 By James WalkerThe Cincinnati Bengals reportedly wasted $8 million dollars this year on injured receiver Antonio Bryant, who never played a down and was cut after five months with the team. The move was strange, considering the Bengals' reputation as a frugal organization.

With that said, here are the top 10 ways Cincinnati could better spend $8 million:

10. Sign two backup quarterbacks, a kicker and fullback

9. Extend Cedric Benson's contract

8. Overhaul the Bengals' medical department

7. Provide a signing bonus for Johnathan Joseph

6. Give raises to assistant coaches

5. Build an indoor practice facility

4. Hire scouts

3. Hire a general manager

2. Extend Marvin Lewis' contract

1. Give $8 million back to Hamilton County

[Sleeping With Bieniemy]

Given that Dan Skuta and Abdul Hodge are competing for the final LB spots, I'll take Jeanty over both of them...not sure why anyone would think he wouldn't make it as a backup.

As for 2nd opinions, I believe teams are required to pay for them but I am guessing the Bengals don't go out of their way to help in that regard.