Odell Thurman Denied Reinstatement

[BallHawk]

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Odell Thurman's petition for reinstatement was denied Thursday by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who decided that the Cincinnati Bengals middle linebacker should miss another season because of his ongoing problems.

Thurman was suspended for all of last season after skipping a drug test and later being arrested for drunken driving. He asked Goodell to reinstate him for the 2007 season, but was turned down.

Thurman will be allowed to ask for reinstatement again following the season.

Goodell's decision leaves the Bengals with two suspended players as they open training camp. Receiver Chris Henry will miss the first eight games for repeatedly violating the league's conduct policy -- he has been arrested four times.

The Bengals are the league's prime example of misconduct, with 10 players arrested over a 14-month span. Thurman and Henry have been repeatedly suspended by the league.

Bengals players were expected to report for training camp in Georgetown, Ky., on Thursday, a day before their first practice. The team had no immediate comment on Goodell's decision.

At a media luncheon on Tuesday, owner Mike Brown supported Thurman, a second-round draft pick out of Georgia who led the team in tackles as a rookie in 2005.

"Odell has been through a difficult time," Brown said. "He's worked hard to bring himself back. It's the call of the league (about reinstatement). I know one thing: If he can get back, he's a good player."

Thurman was suspended for the first four games of last season because he skipped a drug test. He was arrested for drunken driving last September, prompting Goodell to extend the suspension to a full season.

He pleaded no contest to drunken driving in February and was allowed to enter a treatment program. On June 1, a judge in Cincinnati suspended all but six days of a 90-day sentence, and ordered Thurman to serve those six days at a treatment center.

That wasn't the end of his problems.

Two men in Monticello, Ga., filed a complaint alleging that Thurman kicked and hit them at a party two days after he appeared in court to settle the drunken driving case in Cincinnati. Thurman, who is from Georgia, was accused of assaulting the two men following an argument at a home.

The two men later dropped their complaint, and the case was dismissed without charges filed.

[BallHawk]

Not to read too much into this, but if I'm K-Rob, this doesn't look good for me.

[Rastak]

As reported in the Koren Robinson thread.



Man, the comish ain't screwin around.

[pittstang5]

Not to read too much into this, but if I'm K-Rob, this doesn't look good for me.

That's what I was thinking. One question though - has Thurman been a good boy since his suspension? With so many Bengal players always in the news, I can't remember who did what this off-season.

I really wasn't counting on K-Rob helping the Packers this year, or rather ever again, but there's always that, be it very small, possibility that he could be reinstated in the back of my mind.

[The Leaper]

I'm thinking much of this doesn't relate whatsoever to Thurman alone.

You have to think the commissioner wants to send a STRONG message to Cincinnati to clean it up. I think some of the comments from the head coach ("My players are being targeted by the Cinci cops") might have just as much to do with the decision to make an example of Thurman as anything else.

Instead of making excuses and pointing fingers, the Bengals need to clean it up. They haven't really done it yet...and I'm sure that doesn't make the NFL front office too happy.

[NewsBruin]

I need some help with this.

From the article, he was suspended for 4 games because of missing a drug test, then it was extended to the 2006 season after the drunk driving charge. It looks as though his suspension should be over, or at most, would only have 4 games to go.

How is it that the commissioner would deny him reinstatement for another entire season? I don't know what he was up to during the offseason, but what is the justification for taking away another year of football?

It's not a fashionable time to advocate for a suspended player, but the guy has played one season of football and will have spent two on suspension. This is his second year that he's going to have to live off last year's money until the following September. All this for one missed test (which counts as a positive) and a DUI charge.

[Rastak]

I need some help with this.

From the article, he was suspended for 4 games because of missing a drug test, then it was extended to the 2006 season after the drunk driving charge. It looks as though his suspension should be over, or at most, would only have 4 games to go.

How is it that the commissioner would deny him reinstatement for another entire season? I don't know what he was up to during the offseason, but what is the justification for taking away another year of football?

It's not a fashionable time to advocate for a suspended player, but the guy has played one season of football and will have spent two on suspension. All this for one missed test (which counts as a positive) and a DUI charge.


Newsbruin, when you are suspended for a year, that means you are then eligible to apply for re-instatement after that period of time. It does NOT mean it gets granted. Best practice by a player is to not be an idiot.

[CaliforniaCheez]

That's right.

Too many think a one year suspension is a one year suspension.

It is more like being banned and after a year you can beg to get back in but the NFL does not have to say yes. (Onterio Smith, Koren Robinson etc.)

It is real easy to deny a player's application for re-instatement. It is only a two line story in a newspaper about a rapidly fading memory of a "bad" player. The team usually has moved on.

Was Rae Caruth ever suspended?? I think he was just cut.
Imagine his try out in .... 30 years.