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Former Bengal Spikes likes team's edge


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Former Bengal Spikes likes team's edge
July, 31, 2014
Jul 31
8:15
PM ET
By Coley Harvey | ESPN.com
 
CINCINNATI -- The world was much different when Takeo Spikes played inside linebacker for the Cincinnati Bengals.

On average, gas nationwide was less than $1.40 per gallon. Three generations of Boston Red Sox fans still hadn't seen a World Series win. Bengals fans were going through a different type of misery. Their team was far from what it is now.

Plain and simple, the Bengals were awful, pitiful, and any other adjective you can think of that describes the abysmal play that defined their existence in the decade prior to that point. By the end of the 2002 season they hadn't been to the playoffs in a dozen years. The organization was so bad in the five years Spikes played for it that he saw only 19 wins.

He also was part of 61 losses.

These days, brown paper bags aren't the game day accessory of choice for Who Dey Nation. Instead, rose-colored glasses -- ones with orange-and-black striped frames, naturally -- are what Bengals fans are looking out of. The regular-season wins are coming. The postseason appearances are steady. The only real similarity to those Spikes-led teams that never saw the playoffs is that this most recent Bengals manifestation simply can't get past the opening 60 minutes of the postseason.

Spikes thinks that will soon change.

"I've only been in here for like three hours," Spikes said to reporters from inside a Paul Brown Stadium hallway Thursday afternoon, "[but] the sense I get is that a lot of the guys are pissed at the way last year ended.

"They're out to prove a point."

A self-proclaimed "Bengal for life," Spikes likes the thought of that.

"Talking with the guys, seeing how the guys walk, the culture has changed," Spikes said. "Expectations are different."

The former 1998 first-round draft pick was in Cincinnati to help with Sirius XM Radio's coverage of training camp from the Bengals' practices. He's had a number of other opportunities as a radio and television analyst since his career ended after the 2012 season.

Spikes played with the Bengals until 2002, leaving as a free agent the same offseason Marvin Lewis took over as head coach. The two met often in the weeks before Spikes bolted for Buffalo, but never got to fully know one another until they had long moved on in their respective careers.

In 2012, just before the Bengals were playing Spikes' last team, the Chargers, Lewis mentioned how much he hated letting Spikes leave so easily. Lewis' goal at that time was to establish a new identity and culture around the organization. The beloved linebacker was an unintended casualty of the philosophical change that was occurring.

"I wish I could've got it done better," Lewis said two years ago of Spikes' free-agency negotiations. "It's one that got away."

Even though Spikes only spent a portion of his career with the Bengals, and none of it with Lewis' reclamation projects, he still pays attention to what the organization does. He believes the changes to offensive identity will make the team build upon its disappointing first-round playoff exit to San Diego.

"They felt like they left it on the table last year," Spikes said. "For them to put up season highs over a three-year period of time on the offensive side of the ball and the defense to make a lot of noise and to still go down to San Diego, it just felt like it was unfinished business."

Much of what Spikes sensed from players is what daily beat reporters have felt from the team since the organized team activity and minicamp portion of the offseason: That the offense under new offensive coordinator Hue Jackson is going to pace any changes the Bengals go through.

"On the offensive side of the ball, you will see the mentality switch," Spikes said. "It will damn near look like the defensive side of the ball. I'm excited."

Current Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict, a player who has been compared to Spikes, said the defense has had a role in helping the offense flip that mental switch.

"They feed off of us," Burfict said. "We bring a little bit of feistyness, and I can tell they're bringing it, as well. That's just good competition. If I compete at certain levels, the guy in front of me is going to do the same, as well. That's my focus: come out full speed every day and make my offense better."

Whether that edge comes from Burfict or Jackson or anyone else, Spikes knows one thing -- that he likes it.

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/cincinnati-bengals/post/_/id/9595/bengals-takeo-spikes-edge-playoffs-energy

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Last defensive player name jersey I purchased was Spikes back in 2000, purchased a Whitworth jersey in 2005, been personalized since then.

 

I listened to Spikes on Sirius last night, he and a talking head were at Bengals TC and Spikes loves him some Bengals. They talked to Taze, and Spikes was saying how he is the real deal and a one in million type player. Lot's of positives for us, especially from Spikes. The talking head was comparing the feel of Colts camp to our camp, saying something to the effect of "The Colts all talk about multiple championships, but the Bengals just talk of one... why is that Takeo?"

Spikes basically said, this team is on a mission, has a chip on their shoulder on both sides of the ball, and he likes where they're headed. He pretty much told talking head that there is no difference, but the Bengals know they want to get over that hump, but won't really talk about it until they get to the playoffs again.

 

Since I've had a mancrush on the kid for a while now, I will be purchasing a Taze jersey along with my Geno jersey... and Gio is next.

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Last defensive player name jersey I purchased was Spikes back in 2000, purchased a Whitworth jersey in 2005, been personalized since then.
 
I listened to Spikes on Sirius last night, he and a talking head were at Bengals TC and Spikes loves him some Bengals. They talked to Taze, and Spikes was saying how he is the real deal and a one in million type player. Lot's of positives for us, especially from Spikes. The talking head was comparing the feel of Colts camp to our camp, saying something to the effect of "The Colts all talk about multiple championships, but the Bengals just talk of one... why is that Takeo?"
Spikes basically said, this team is on a mission, has a chip on their shoulder on both sides of the ball, and he likes where they're headed. He pretty much told talking head that there is no difference, but the Bengals know they want to get over that hump, but won't really talk about it until they get to the playoffs again.
 
Since I've had a mancrush on the kid for a while now, I will be purchasing a Taze jersey along with my Geno jersey... and Gio is next.


Personalized are the best way to go cause we are never getting traded.
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What's so wrong with that?  He's always been one of my favorites.  Dude came to play every week on shit teams and left with class instead of throwing his pads in the stadium.

 

Plus, that neck...

 

No way,  Bengal for life?    He was good,  pro bowl level for sure.    Bolted right after his rookie contract and never once got the playoffs he was looking for.

 

What's wrong with it?    Robbing us of a division title in 2003.

 

Spikes was dynamic enough of a player at that time to put them over the edge for that season.  

 

His loss. 

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No way,  Bengal for life?    He was good,  pro bowl level for sure.    Bolted right after his rookie contract and never once got the playoffs he was looking for.

 

What's wrong with it?    Robbing us of a division title in 2003.

 

Spikes was dynamic enough of a player at that time to put them over the edge for that season.  

 

His loss. 

Seriously, we were 19-61 while he was here.  New coach with NO HC experience.  We had just come off of a 2-14 season.  At that point we were where Cleveland currently is.   

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Seriously, we were 19-61 while he was here.  New coach with NO HC experience.  We had just come off of a 2-14 season.  At that point we were where Cleveland currently is.   

 

All of those things go a long way towards explaining why Takeo left as soon as he was able to.

 

None of it helps explain why Takeo now claims he's a Bengal for life.

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Seriously, we were 19-61 while he was here.  New coach with NO HC experience.  We had just come off of a 2-14 season.  At that point we were where Cleveland currently is.   

 

He left because of those reasons.   For which I don't second guess.   IMO,  that doesn't make you Bengal for life.

 

 

He's just jumping on the bandwagon.  

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All of those things go a long way towards explaining why Takeo left as soon as he was able to.

 

None of it helps explain why Takeo now claims he's a Bengal for life.

Most NFL players see the first team they played for and were successful at with fond memories unless they were traded.  Spikes was drafted and given the opportunity to prove he belonged in the NFL by the Bengals.   He ran with that opportunity which resulted in a 15 year NFL career which is remarkable.

 

I can imagine most players remember more about their rookie year as a player in the NFL than all of the other years in between.  Sure, they remember big games and the lucky remember the titles but I am sure that first day in training camp, first pre season game, first time they sing their alma mater, first snap in an NFL game etc.  remain vivid in most of their minds.  He did all of that in Cincinnati and his play in Cincy allowed him to set his family up for life with subsequent contracts.

 

BTW, Buffalo signed Spikes to an offer sheet we DID NOT match.   

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He left because of those reasons.   For which I don't second guess.   IMO,  that doesn't make you Bengal for life.

 

 

He's just jumping on the bandwagon.  

 

From what he's said in the past, that was one of his biggest regrets.  He just didn't see a future here, but he's always liked Cincy.

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Why in hell would anyone be down on Spikes?

 

I'm not down on Spikes.

 

In fact, at one time he was my favorite Bengal player.

 

I even named my dog after him.

 

But it's laughable to think  a player who left here at first opportunity and then played for a handful of other NFL teams is a Bengal for life.

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He can certainly be a Bengal for life.  Truth is they were an organization in pure debacle when he played for them.  I don't get the bitterness towards former players.  Nobody knows what those players thoughts were when they left and they certainly don't know now.   

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Last defensive player name jersey I purchased was Spikes back in 2000, purchased a Whitworth jersey in 2005, been personalized since then.

 

I listened to Spikes on Sirius last night, he and a talking head were at Bengals TC and Spikes loves him some Bengals. They talked to Taze, and Spikes was saying how he is the real deal and a one in million type player. Lot's of positives for us, especially from Spikes. The talking head was comparing the feel of Colts camp to our camp, saying something to the effect of "The Colts all talk about multiple championships, but the Bengals just talk of one... why is that Takeo?"

Spikes basically said, this team is on a mission, has a chip on their shoulder on both sides of the ball, and he likes where they're headed. He pretty much told talking head that there is no difference, but the Bengals know they want to get over that hump, but won't really talk about it until they get to the playoffs again.

 

Since I've had a mancrush on the kid for a while now, I will be purchasing a Taze jersey along with my Geno jersey... and Gio is next.

 

 

Wait till he signs his extension........

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