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Tom Archdeacon: Character now part of Bengals' draft focus
Sunday, April 27, 2008
CINCINNATI — Before the NFL draft, Arthur Rivers said he had only one lasting impression of the
Cincinnati Bengals:
Extras
"I was watching ESPN, and I saw one of their players, Frostee Rucker, spit on another guy at practice. I told my son, 'That's not the kind of pro — not the kind of teammate — you want to be. You can be just the opposite of that.' "
Now Keith Rivers will get that chance.
And as fate would have it, he will be right along side the oft-troubled Rucker because the Bengals made the 241-pound University of Southern California linebacker their first-round pick in the NFL draft, Saturday, April 26.
Certainly Keith Rivers was taken because Bengals coaches believe he can play right away, but there almost certainly was another, even bigger issue factored into the selection formula.
Just like Arthur Rivers, plenty of people have similar images of the Bengals as a bunch of players who, if not literally, certainly figuratively, spit on their teammates.
From the selfish rants of Chad Johnson and the "one man crime wave" that was Chris Henry to the other arrests, the suspensions, the dressing-room dysfunction and, of course, the continued losing, the Bengals have become, as ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit put it, "the great abyss."
There seems to be a mandate from above, be it from team owner Mike Brown or NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, that the Bengals clean up their embarrassing act.
And so at this draft, even if head coach Marvin Lewis publicly dismissed the idea, character seems to be one of the primary concerns when bringing in a new player.
"That wasn't a consideration," Lewis said a bit curtly when asked if it played into the Rivers selection. "It's a part of every player."
But it's more so this year than in drafts past when rap sheets sometime were weightier than resumes.
And so the selection of Rivers — son of a career Air Force man, grandson of a preacher — had linebackers coach Jeff FitzGerald proclaiming:
"He'll be a good face for the organization."
Rivers admitted the Bengals brought up character: "We talked about it, but I'm a strong character guy. It's something I value. I've shown I can stay out of trouble while playing in a big city."
Character may have had something to do with the Bengals curious second-round pick of Coastal Carolina receiver Jerome Simpson, even though several higher-ranked candidates from bigger programs — Texas' Limas Sweed, Oklahoma's Malcolm Kelly, Michigan's Mario Manningham and Cal's DeSean Jackson — were still available.
"There are things that don't become public knowledge about individuals all the time, whether (it) is background ... injury ... other things like that that people don't know about, that don't get publicized," said offensive coordinator Brad Bratkowski. "What we're looking at here is a guy that's a top-notch young man."
He said Simpson, known for his leaping ability, acrobatic skills and "courage" in the air, could bring some things to the team that will surprise people.
So may Rivers.
"I told Keith, you can be contagious on a team, and it doesn't have to be negative," Arthur Rivers said. "I told him, 'Positive can rub off, too.' "
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2156 or tarchdeacon@DaytonDailyNews.com.
