Great Gio story by Tom Archdeacon

[CTBengalsFan]

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/17/3633884/tom-archdeacon-bengals-giovani.html

 

If you think that over-stoked, orange-towel-waving crowd at Paul Brown Stadium gave a full-throated welcome to Giovani Bernard, the Cincinnati Bengals' muscled mini-rookie who scored his first two NFL touchdowns in the 20-10 vanquishing of the Pittsburgh Steelers on the Monday Night Football stage, you should have heard the top-of-the-lungs giddy embrace coming out of South Florida.

 

"I gave our dad a buzz right after the game and for the first minute or so I couldn't understand a thing he was saying, he was just screaming - in English and in Creole - into the phone," laughed Giovani's older brother, Yvenson, as he stood outside the Bengals dressing room just past midnight wearing a t-shirt that said "GIO RUN" in big letters across the front.

 

"(Dad) was just going nuts. He was like 'Oh My God! Two touchdowns! Two! ... Can you believe it?'

 

"He was seeing his American Dream right there."

 

Yvenson and Giovani's father, Yven, came to America from Haiti on a small, rickety boat crammed with 16 people in 1980. It was a rough passage. He spent three nights at sea buffeted by high winds and big waves.

 

The boat washed ashore near Delray Beach, Fla. Yven had only the pants and shirt he was wearing. As he remembers it these days, he thinks he was without shoes. There is no question, though, that he had no money or connections here.

 

Although he ended up in a crowded apartment with other Haitian refugees, he soon tried to better his lot.

 

"He had been a soccer player in Haiti, but here he ended up a custodian at IBM," Yvenson said. "He cleaned floors. Cleaned toilets. Did whatever he could."

 

Yven met Jossette Liberious, another Haitian exile, they fell in love and soon wed. They ended up working in a dry-cleaning business together and after some years they were able to buy it. She worked the counter, he worked in back, they had Yvenson in 1985 and Giovani in 1991 and life was on the upswing.

 

Then Jossette was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. She died in her husband's arms on the floor of their home and the boys still remember retreating with him to the bathroom, where they hugged each other and sobbed.

 

Devastated by his wife's death, Yven lost everything - the business, the family home, the cars. The one saving grace was Yvenson's football scholarship to Oregon State, where he ended up the Beavers' second all-time leading rusher and No. 6 on the Pac-10 all-time list.

 

Back home Giovani and his dad struggled. They moved into a run-down Fort Lauderdale apartment infested with rats. For his evening meal, Giovani remembers his dad often taking him to the drive-through window at McDonald's and allowing him to order just one thing off the 99-cent menu.

 

Cris Carter, the NFL Hall of Famer of Middletown High School and Ohio State fame, took a liking to Giovani, who played on the same Florida youth league team as did his boy, Duron. He helped get him into St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale and that football powerhouse helped get him a scholarship to North Carolina. From there, the 5-foot-9, 205-pound running back became a second-round pick of the Bengals this past spring.

 

Back in Florida, Yven regained his footing and after working at another dry-cleaning business, he ended up buying it.

 

"He works hard at it, but we got him to close a little early today so he could go home and watch the game," Yvenson said. "He was there all by himself on the couch, just hanging out eating beef and rice, drinking his Gatorade and cheering his son. I kinda wish I was there to share it with him, but I wanted to be here, too."

 

Yvenson sat with his wife and mother-in-law near the tunnel the Bengals take to the field. Before the game, though, he said he spoke with his brother:

"We just talked how awesome this is. He's living out his dream now and I'm living out mine, too. I always wanted to see my little brother take care of business and play in the NFL."

 

Emulated brother

 

As a kid, Giovani said he wanted to do everything his big brother did. That's why he gravitated to football when so many Haitian kids were partial to soccer.

 

"Since he was a little guy he was a linebacker but by the end of his Pop Warner career they started playing him at running back and he had a knack for seeing the holes and then turning on that break-away speed," said Yvenson, who played a few years in the Canadian Football League and now teaches and coaches high school football in Boca Raton.

 

"At Thomas Aquinas he did the same thing and that's when we all said, 'Hold on! This kid might be for real.' "

 

In just his third practice as a North Carolina freshman, Bernard tore up his knee and missed the entire 2010 season. He came back the following year as a redshirt freshman and rushed for 1,253 yards and the Atlantic Coast Conference gave him the Brian Piccolo Award, which goes to the league player showing the most courage and determination.

 

Yvenson said those were traits his brother learned first-hand growing up. When he was little, Gio used to spend summers in Haiti with his mother living in a place with no running water. After his mother died, he endured more trials as he and his father struggled.

 

"He truly appreciates things now," said Yvenson. "I hope he remains humble. People can see that humility now. The media sees it, the fans see it and so do the coaches and that will take him a real long way."

 

'Surreal' to watch

 

Andre Smith, the Bengals 6-foot-4, 335-pound right tackle, stood at his locker after Monday night's game and looked across the room at Bernard:

"I absolutely love blocking for him. He just does so many great things. He literally changes the speed of the game. You wouldn't think it to look at him now, but when he puts those pads on he becomes a whole different man."

 

Monday night Bernard carried eight times for 38 yards and the Bengals' first score late in the first quarter when he bulled seven yards into the end zone.

 

Although he shrugged off his first NFL touchdown as "no big deal, I just care that we won," his brother said it was "surreal" for him as he watched from the stands.

 

Underneath, though, you know the first score was special for Bernard, especially when you consider the quiet remembrance - going all the way back to his prep days - he tacks onto each TD:

 

He points to the sky to acknowledge his mom, who he refers to as his "lead fullback."

 

In college he wrote her initials on his gloves and shoes and Monday night you saw the homage - "She Lives In Me" - tattooed on his chest.

 

In the third quarter, Bernard caught an Andy Dalton pass over the middle, turned on the jets and roared away from Steelers linebacker Kion Wilson and safety Ryan Clark for a 27-yard score that he finished off with a high-stepping prance through the end zone.

 

What's interesting is that he never even saw Dalton launch the ball.

 

"A lot of the time I can't see Andy because all the guys out there are a lot taller than me," he said. "So it's almost like blind faith for him to know I'm there and we'll be able to connect and get to the end zone.

 

"People say in the NFL there's not much room to wiggle and dance around so once you see green grass like I did on this one, you gotta take advantage of it. Once you get an opportunity, no matter what it is in life, you have to shine."

 

That's just what he did.

 

And it's why his dad was back there in South Florida sitting on the couch screaming at the TV as his American Dream scampered across the Monday Night Football screen.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/17/v-print/3633884/tom-archdeacon-bengals-giovani.html#storylink=cpy

 

[Slag911]

Wow...that's all I can say.  It's hard to like him more than I already do but this story strikes another chord with me on him.

[coup000]

His story is pretty amazing. Also, Really cool quote from Andre, he doesn't seem like one to hand out empty compliments. Sounds like the other guys know this kid is special.

[esjbh2]

Wow...that's all I can say.  It's hard to like him more than I already do but this story strikes another chord with me on him.

 

His story is pretty amazing. Also, Really cool quote from Andre, he doesn't seem like one to hand out empty compliments. Sounds like the other guys know this kid is special.

 

Couldn't agree more on both accounts.  Amazing and inspirational success story.  I love that kid.

[membengal]

Gracious, that's a helluva read.

[Dautcom08]

Makes it easy to root for a guy like Gio Benard. 

 

How does a Miami media outlet run this story on a Cincinnati Bengal before any one of the ones here in town?  Mind boggling.

[Bengals1181]

Makes it easy to root for a guy like Gio Benard. 

 

How does a Miami media outlet run this story on a Cincinnati Bengal before any one of the ones here in town?  Mind boggling.

 

 

particularly when it was written by a local writer.

[|Elflocko|]

Makes it easy to root for a guy like Gio Benard. 

 

How does a Miami media outlet run this story on a Cincinnati Bengal before any one of the ones here in town?  Mind boggling.

 

Tom Archdeacon wrote that for the DDN and it was picked up by the Miami Herald.

 

The article on DDN is behind a pay wall however... 

[HairOnFire]

 Prior to each draft there's always a period where youtube highlite videos give way to a flood of player interviews as the media attempts to flesh out who the players really are. Thus, this spring as each of us were pouring over game highlites trying to determine which RB was the best fit for the Bengals I found myself searching for something that would bring some seperation between the prospects.

 

So imagine my suprise when I just so happened to catch an interview with Bernard on the NFL Network's goofy morning show and came away thinking that regardless of talent rankings Gio Bernard was one of the most impressive people I have ever seen. So immediately after watching the interview I started searching the interwebs for other interviews with Bernard, and I immediately found a half dozen or more that gave far greater detail to his family struggles. Each interview confirmed my first impression. This was somebody I desperately wanted to root for.

 

 The next day i signed on to this goofy board and firmly planted my flag In Camp Gio, even going so far to say that I would be happy to see the Bengals use their first 2nd round pick on him. And while that hardly sounds like a revelation today, at the time most rankings had Bernard projected as a 3rd or 4th round pick and no better than the 2nd or 3rd best back in the draft. But none of that mattered to me, because for one of the very few times in my life I had fallen hard for a football player while he was wearing street clothes. (I can't remember when that's ever happened before.)

 

It's a pleasure rooting for this kid.  

[|Harley|]

quickly becoming my favorite player.

[Randle P McMurphy]

Pretty cool story.  I lived in Delray Beach for a little while.  Not in 1980 though.  I worked in Boca Raton 

and saw Cris Carter just about every week.  He lives in Boca and has a business there working with

football players called "Fast Program" or something like that.  Talked to him a couple of times.  Pretty

decent guy.  A friend of mine is a die hard Dolphins fan and gave me a Dolphins Pennant to get him

to sign it.  He signed it for me and was cool about it.  I never asked him to sign something for myself.

Probably should have but oh well.  

[SmoothD]

"Andre Smith, the Bengals 6-foot-4, 335-pound right tackle, stood at his locker after Monday night's game and looked across the room at Bernard:

"I absolutely love blocking for him. He just does so many great things. He literally changes the speed of the game. You wouldn't think it to look at him now, but when he puts those pads on he becomes a whole different man."

 

Go back and check out Andre's blocking on Gio's 7 yard TD run.

He was still blocking his man, although Gio is already in the end zone. 

[Jeb]

Don't forget the run game, ...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miFhwa1_fwE

 

...if you want to get out alive.

[Jeb]

Always keep your balance, ...don't forget the run game.

[Bengals1181]

Before Giovani Bernard, he of the emerging Bennie and The Jet backfield, there was Yvenson Bernard. Before Yvenson  tried out for two NFL teams, played for four teams in the CFL, got married, and the couple came up with Run GIO T-shirt based on old school Run-D.M.C., there were his 3,862 yards that made him Oregon State's second all-time rusher and sixth in the even older school Pac-10.

"It's creepy," Yvenson Bernard admitted this week from Boca Raton, Fla., as the new running backs coach at West Boca Raton High School evaluated his kid brother.

He's getting texts and e-mails from all about saying its scary watching Gio because they say it's like seeing a faster Yvenson.

"The way he runs his zone reading, the way he runs that one play where he cuts back, the way he presses the hole," Yvenson said. "The way he runs the stretch play and knows when to cut it up north and south.  We're two completely different guys, but it's nice to see a little of me in him and a little of him in me."

Not a mere coincidence. Yvenson, 5-9, 204 pounds, turns 29 in two weeks so he's eight years older than Gio, 5-9 208 pounds, and Gio will tell you he copied a lot of what his big brother did growing up. But there's something big brother couldn't copy.

"The one thing my brother had that I didn't was that top end speed," Yvenson said. "He just finds that second gear come game time. Coming out of the combine he had a 4.5 40 and a lot of people had better times. For some reason he's able to extend that play and it's cool to be able to see him do that."

If you think Bengaldom is head over heels with the start to what very well could be a national rookie of the year season, check out Yvenson Bernard. One of the reasons he retired a year and a half ago is so he could see his brother play at North Carolina and then, as it turned out, help him through the draft process.

"My Sundays are a little different now," Yvenson said. "I had a shot and now to see my brother playing on Sunday afternoon in the NFL is unreal and in the Monday Night game, it's great to see his dream playing out."

Giovani Bernard leads all rookie running backs with 110 yards on 22 carries. He's the only rookie running back with two touchdowns. He's tied with Arizona's Andre Ellington for most catches by a rookie running back with six and trails Ellington by just seven for most receiving yards with 84.

In fact, Yvenson's favorite play of his came at the end of Giovani Bernard's longest catch of the season. It happened last week when he took a pass in the flat and wheeled untouched for 31 yards before he put his shoulder down on the sideline and bopped himself and Packers 5-10, 207-pound safety Chris Banjo out of bounds.

That caught the eye of Yvenson Bernard, who didn't make it the camps of the Rams and Seahawks in the 2008 preseason.

"I thought that was pretty sweet because some people look at my brother's game as finesse," Yvenson said. "That he's not physical. In actuality, he's a very physical guy. To see him go out of bounds and smack him like that, that shows a lot about him.  He plays for the love of the game. You see guys in the NFL running out of bounds. No contact. They call that the business move and I understand. But for my brother, that's pretty cool. He just wanted to make a statement like he's here to play."

Expect more of the same. This is a family of grinders, led by their father, 53-year-old widower Yven. After losing everything but his two sons after his wife died when Giovani was seven, the patriarch worked his way back as his sons were climbing through the ranks of college football. He's back in the game as the owner of Regal Cleaners in the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area and it doesn't much matter that Giovani has purchased a new home and given him a floor of his own.

"It my brother's place, but he made sure my Dad has his own everything," Yvenson said. "Dad's living well."

But Yvenson Bernard knows it's going to be difficult to yank him out of work for a Sunday game in Cincinnati. The Bengals picked Gio so early in the draft; Yven almost missed the moment because he worked right up until the second round started that night.

"This guy literally wakes up at 5 in the morning and he doesn't come home until 7:30, 8," Yvenson said. "He loves the dry cleaners. You can see him trying to prove to us that he still has it and he's the man at what he does."

Right now his son is the man in Bengaldom and his big brother can't get enough. Some Run Gio shirts got great feedback when Yvenson and his wife came to the Steelers game and he thinks they may take off like his kid brother.

He also likes the Bennie and The Jet nickname for the one-two punch of Gio and BenJarvus Green-Ellis. He knows the tune from the Elton John song of the '70s, "Bennie and the Jets," and wonders if they might play it in pregame or even after touchdowns at Pau Brown Stadium.

"My Sundays are different, that's for sure," said Yvenson Bernard, who didn't have the speed but has been there for his brother's long haul.

 

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Big-brother-is-watching/d6ace6b5-ca13-4fe9-97dc-0231ed01f70e

[Bengal_80]

I'm glad he is playing for the Bengals!

[|Bunghole|]

Awesome story. Any Bengals fan that doesn't like him or his backstory is a moron. Go Go Gio!

[Jeb]

 

"Andre Smith, the Bengals 6-foot-4, 335-pound right tackle, stood at his locker after Monday night's game and looked across the room at Bernard:

"I absolutely love blocking for him. He just does so many great things. He literally changes the speed of the game. You wouldn't think it to look at him now, but when he puts those pads on he becomes a whole different man."

 

Go back and check out Andre's blocking on Gio's 7 yard TD run.

He was still blocking his man, although Gio is already in the end zone. 

 

 

Smith has turned a corner for me, ...he's the real deal, ...balanced and a solid lineman.

 

I no longer worry about his weight, ...he's got that under control.

 

The guy's grown up a lot

[coup000]

I badly want a RUN G.I.O. shirt. Are those out there somewhere?

[Jeb]

Don't forget the run game, ...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miFhwa1_fwE

 

...if you want to get out alive.

 

This last game was the reason I keep posting this every week, ...never give up on the run game.

[Jason]

 

Smith has turned a corner for me, ...he's the real deal, ...balanced and a solid lineman.

 

I no longer worry about his weight, ...he's got that under control.

 

The guy's grown up a lot

 

I don't remember where I heard or read it, but I think someone said during the Green Bay game that Andre had stepped up as a leader on offense and encouraged the team to keep fighting.

 

He is not the same guy he was in 2009 at all.

[logo063]

I badly want a RUN G.I.O. shirt. Are those out there somewhere?

Cincy Shirts sells them. I also sell "Keep Calm and Carry On" shirts with his name and number on back.

[Jeb]

Bengals' Gruden sees 'brighter days ahead'

October, 9, 2013

Oct 9

10:15

AM ET

 

CINCINNATI -- This time last week, it was all Jay Gruden's and Andy Dalton's faults. Both needed to be run out of town, banished from the city limits forever.

Still licking their wounds from a truly unconscionable 17-6 loss at Cleveland that was powered -- or, more accurately, wasn't -- by a punchless offense, Cincinnati Bengals fans made it known that they weren't happy with their offensive coordinator and his quarterback. They wanted replacements for both.

Yes, seven days ago, that was the talk all over southwest Ohio and northern Kentucky. There are still some who are concerned about the offense's apparent inconsistency, but with a win Sunday and the sight of the more balanced offensive attack that they had been hoping to see, most of last week's critics are keeping quiet this week.

Funny how that works, right? Then again, this is the National Football League; nothing stays the same from week-to-week.

Gruden, the Bengals assistant who admitted last week that his unit was still finding its identity, told reporters after Sunday's 13-6 win over the New England Patriots that while he's glad to celebrate a victory, there were still many improvements for his offense to make. Much like he did for the seven days when many wanted to see him lose his job, Gruden maintained his optimism, saying that "brighter days are ahead."

"The Patriots are a good defense and we're obviously pleased to get the win, but we also know that we have a long way to go before we reach our potential," Gruden said. "But we can get there quickly."

Cincinnati relied more heavily than it has all season on the quickness of running backs BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Giovani Bernard in Sunday's win. With a season-high 39 carries, the Bengals rushed for another season-high 162 yards as they compiled their most statistically balanced performance of the season. Only 17 yards separated the number of rushing yards from passing yards (179).

"With a guy like Benny [Green-Ellis], Benny gets better with the more carries he gets," Gruden said.

Green-Ellis' 19 carries were the second-most he's had this season, behind the 22 he put up against Pittsburgh in Week 2. Most of those touches came on the final two drives of the game as the Bengals were grinding out clock-eating drives to preserve their first victory of the season. Sunday's effort against the Patriots, though, may have been a better overall performance. One reason why: because it came right after the Bengals' Week 4 meltdown which saw them gain just 63 yards as a team on the ground.

Among the complaints about Gruden's offense last week was the fact that he seemed tentative to call rushing plays. Granted, the Bengals were trailing much of their game at Cleveland and were trying to get back into it with passes, but the air attack never really seemed in sync. Dalton's throws either overshot his receivers, undershot them or went into spaces they weren't even occupying. The passing game was out of rhythm, and they didn't know why.

Yet Gruden kept going to it. Specifically, he kept going to receiver A.J. Green. On 15 targets, the wideout only caught seven passes for 51 yards.

The offensive coordinator now realizes he can't do that. He knows he has a tendency to get pass-heavy with his play selection, but with players like Green-Ellis and the elusive Bernard in his backfield, he knows he has to blend his game plans more often.

"[Green-Ellis] wears down a defense and sometimes I don't have the patience for that," Gruden admitted. "I have A.J., I have [Jermaine] Gresham and [Tyler] Eifert and Mo [Mohamed Sanu] and Marv [Marvin Jones] and sometimes I'll throw it a little bit more. [Sunday] was a great example of how effective he can be if given more opportunities."

Calls for more rushing opportunities weren't just coming from fans and media. They were coming from within Gruden's own locker room.

Veteran offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth was among the players who both publicly and privately said he felt there needed to be a stronger ground game presence.

"That isn't coming from me," Whitworth said. "That comes from the fact that our line wanted that, the young guys on this offense want that. I'm never scared to stand up and say, 'Hey, this is what guys are whining to me about or saying to me or what they want the opportunity to show.'"

His message was apparently received loudly and clearly.

So were complaints from those outside the locker room who pleaded for more better balance to showcase the abundance of weapons the Bengals have. After going to Green on 35.7 percent of his throws against the Browns, Dalton only went his direction 29.6 percent of the time Sunday. In fact, of the 27 passes Dalton threw against New England, 15 went to his tight ends and running backs. The other 12 went to his receivers. Green was targeted on eight of those.

Among the biggest Week 5 takeaways for Gruden and his offense was the fact that it has to have more than one touchdown in a game, even against defenses that are as good as the Patriots'. A red zone interception, the first of Dalton's career from inside the 20, halted one potential scoring drive.

"I'm going to be hard to satisfy. The talent that we have on offense, we've got to do a lot better," Gruden said. "But we've just got to keep working. We've got a good unit, a good, talented group. We haven't come close to our standards yet, but brighter days are ahead."

http://espn.go.com/blog/cincinnati-bengals/post/_/id/1530/bengals-jay-gruden-offensive-identity-coming

[Jeb]

Gruden is starting to piss me off.

 

I hate it when an OC won't allow the run game to develop because of all the toys he has in the passing game, ...Brat got run out of town for that problem.

[Jeb]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehZLNbpuAc4

 

...what else needs to be said?