Yup, I’d Make a Lousy NFL GM

I see Cincinnati radio yakker Lance McAlister has fired a broadside on his blog at fans who think they could run the Bengals better than owner Mike Brown (gee I wonder “who” he might mean…?). Looking back at comments and polls during the 2009 offseason, Lance notes:

What if the fans were the GM of the Bengals?
The Bengals are 5-2 at the bye, tied for first place in the AFC North. I would argue if the fans had their way, this team would be a mess. Consider all that fans have demanded the last couple of years.
I’m not sure how many of these fans are even willing to admit to today.
I went back and looked at old show sheets and various poll questions on some of these below
It’s amazing to see what fans said at the time.
What fans said and wanted:
*Wanted Chad traded…for anything, including a down marker and Gatorade cooler
*Didn’t want Chris Henry back….too much trouble
*Wanted to keep TJ
*Spend big bucks on a free agent center (Jason Brown, 5 yrs-37-mill or Matt Birk, 4 yrs 12 mill)
*Elbow surgery for Carson
*No Jeremi Johnson back….too fat and undisciplined
*The baggage of Ced Benson or Tank Williams wasn’t worth the trouble. I got abused the day Ced was first signed when I pointed out how many charges had been dropped against him….and how there was no downside.
*Wanted OL coach Paul Alexander fired. Look what he’s done with this line.
*Wanted Offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski fired
*Wanted to sign free agent OL Orlando Pace. How is he working out for Chicago?
*Had no idea who Brian Leonard was when acquired in trade for Orien Harris
*Had no idea who Bernard Scott was then drafted out of Abilene Christian
*Didn’t want the baggage of Bernard Scott once he was drafted

Ouch. And yeah, I have to cop to being a fan who called for at least some of those things. I was in favor of a Chad trade — though not for just anything, I wanted Washington’s offer. I thought Chris Henry and the Bengals would both be served best by parting ways. I would have taken Jason Brown over Coles, and I cringed at the signings of Benson and Tank.

And yeah, I was p*ssed when they let T.J. go.

In my defense, I was also happy to see Stacy Andrews leave for Philadelphia despite the team’s repeated attempts to keep his over-rated butt. And while I wanted a free agent center, I also realized the FA center class was poor this season, and Kyle Cook has justified my faith in him. And I wanted them to draft punter Kevin Huber, too. No, I didn’t want Benson initially — but after he did well in Cincinnati in the second half of 2008, I wanted him back bad enough to advocate franchising him if necessary; safety Chris Crocker was also on my, and the team’s, priority list to re-up.

But in the end, Lance’s point holds. The Bengals were mostly right this past offseason, and the critics, including me, were wrong. So mea culpa. And, of course, Who-Dey!