Arrested Development

Marvin Lewis has gotta hate his job right about now.

During Lewis's tenure as head coach of the Queen City's football franchise approximately 20 percent of his players have displayed a preference for prison stripes to those of the majestic Tiger for which the team is named. I only bring this up because it has been reported that cornerback and first round draft pick from last year Jonathan Joseph has been arrested on drug charges, adding him to eight others that have been arrested in the last twelve months, and at least the tenth in the last two and a half years.
According to the AP report, Coach Lewis stated "We've tried to allow guys to both mature as men and mature as players. But the thing we continue to find is they've got to be constantly coached, policed and corrected so that at times of adversity, we can do the right things."
Considering that most of these guys had well documented problems in college that made it to the local press, there really is no excuse for Lewis to be easy on these guys (another statement he made to the press). Can he be watching over them 24/7? No. But he certainly doesn't have to be playing them, and it is within the team's purview the fine the buggers for this sort of behavior.
In the regular season the roster has 53 players, 47 of whom are active on Sunday. Ten arrested is then over 21 percent of the active roster.

I would call the following a roll call, but rap sheet seems more appropriate (keeping in mind, I am only listing arrests, not convictions);

Justin Smith, DE, 1st Round - DUI 10/2004
*Odell Thurman, LB, 2nd Round - DUI 9/2006
Erich Steinbach, G, 2nd Round - Boating under the influence 8/2006
Matthias Askew, DT, 4th Round - Resisting arrest 8/2006 - release did nothing to send a message to other Bengals trouble children.
Deltha O'Neal, CB, DUI 12/2006
AJ Nicholson, LB, 5th Round - Burgalury, grand theft 6/2006
Frostee Rucker, DE, 3rd Round - Spousal Battery, vandalism 6/2006
*Reggie McNeal, WR, 6th Round - Resisting Arrest, drug charges 12/2006

The last is a one man rap sheet...the following is just a sample as Henry has been arrested four times since the end of/late in 2005...
*Chis Henry, WR, 3rd Round -
12/2005 - pulled over in Northern Kentucky for speeding and marijuana was found in his shoes. He was also driving without a valid driver's license, and without auto insurance.
1/2006, he was arrested in Orlando for multiple gun charges including concealment and aggravated assault with a firearm. He was reported to have been wearing his Number 15 Bengals jersey at the time of his arrest. Henry pleaded guilty to in both cases and avoided jail time in both cases.
Cincinnati media reported in 5/2006, that Henry is being investigated by Covington police in connection with a sex crime, which allegedly occurred in a hotel room in Covington, Kentucky early on April 30, 2006. No charges have yet been filed, and on May 24, 2006, Covington police reported that there is no proof anything happened and that the alleged victim might now face charges for filing a false police report.

* It's just interesting to note that when Thurman was nailed for his DUI, he was serving a 4-game substance abuse suspension and in the vehicle with him were McNeal and Henry.