Arkansas Bengal Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 Bengals' Gresham thinks he is 'villain' TE September, 11, 2014 Sep 11 9:15 PM ET By Coley Harvey | ESPN.com CINCINNATI -- Tyler Eifert is the good, athletic fan favorite among the tight ends on the Cincinnati Bengals' roster.Jermaine Gresham is the other guy. The one everybody loves to hate. The villain. At least, that's the way Gresham sees it. [+] Enlarge Nick Wass/Associated PressJermaine Gresham will be expected to assume more of a receiving load with Tyler Eifert out. "People want certain things to be a certain way and when things aren't a certain way, they don't like it and they voice their opinion," the fifth-year tight end said, speaking to reporters Thursday for the first and possibly last time this season. Gresham is a private person. He doesn't like the attention that comes with a professional athlete's lifestyle. He tries to stay out of the spotlight. The main way he does that is by avoiding talks with those of us who are curious to hear his thoughts on playing in two-tight end sets or shouldering additional responsibilities with other playmakers lost to injury. While he doesn't seek the attention that's bound to come his way regardless if he catches a touchdown pass or commits a false start penalty, Gresham does go out looking for what's said and written about him. He's probably reading this story right now. It's his Achilles' heel. He's curious to know what people think about him. If it's good, he makes a mental note. If it's bad, he keeps track of that as well. He doesn't mind being hated, but he also wouldn't mind something else. "I would like to be loved by a lot more people, but that's just the nature of the sport," Gresham said. "It comes and goes." The good vibes fled Gresham completely on Sunday. During one second-quarter sequence, he likely had Bengals fans hurling more four-letter words at their television sets instead of throwing their hearts his way. A quarter after Eifert went down with an elbow injury that eventually placed him on the short-term injured reserve -- the earliest he can play again is Nov. 6 against Cleveland -- Gresham frustrated many when he stopped at the end of a route at the goal line. With quarterback Andy Dalton moving to his left and throwing to a wide open space near the end zone, all Gresham had to do was continue his route another two steps before catching the ball and easing in untouched for a crucial goal-line score. It didn't happen. The ball floated by as Gresham sat down on his route, expecting to set a block to free up another receiver. "I'll take blame for that," Gresham said. "It was a concept that I read wrong. I should have kept going and it would have been a touchdown. I owe Andy one." According to Gresham, he owes a lot more to his critics. The people who he says are quick to point out that the Pro Bowl star next to his name comes with the "alternate" asterisk, are the same ones who want him collecting more yards and touchdowns than is feasible in the Bengals' system. In his mind, fans want him to be a Jimmy Graham-type of tight end who goes "for like 1,300 yards, 20 TDs." In an offense where A.J. Green is the star, Gresham might never even see a 1,000-yard, eight-touchdown season. While he actually isn't as bad as he might let on, Gresham isn't going to be an elite pass-catcher in this offense because there are too many other players who have to touch the football. Still, he thinks that when people look at other class of 2010 tight ends like Graham and Rob Gronkowski, they believe Gresham could accomplish more. But aside from those two no other tight end from the draft class has more receiving yards, receptions and touchdowns than Gresham. Since 2010, he's among the top 12 tight ends in the league in each of those categories. That's still not enough for him. "I kind of accept the villain role and just try to be a leader to guys like Tyler who are learning on the way," Gresham said. "As long as my teammates love me, I'm good." http://espn.go.com/blog/cincinnati-bengals/post/_/id/11102/bengals-jermaine-gresham-tyler-eifert-villain-tight-end Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Dub Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 It's almost like fans react negatively when someone commits drive-killing penalties, drops passes, fumbles the ball or otherwise screws up at the worst possible moment on a weekly basis, season after season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.A.B. Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 We love you, fat head, even if you make stupid mistakes time to time :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColorChanginClique Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 I like his mindset and viewpoint on the whole thing though. Yeah, he frustrates me too death, but for every wrong he's made at least 2 or 3 really good rights, so it's hard to dislike the guy, much less "hate" him. He's very Jekyll and Hyde-ish.......but it's better than being all Hyde..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnickyCat Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 I believe Gresham is a very talented TE and as long as he is in a Bengals uniform I want him to do well. Now with that being said, should the Bengals decide not to resign him I won't be sad nor will I be surprised. I won't compare his receptions & yards with other top tight ends (especially the ones he was drafted with) because the systems they play in are completely different than ours. But I think penalties and fumbles are fair game. It is this lack of concentration/attention to detail that I find most disturbing with Gresham's game. Penalties 20 penalties were attributed to Gresham the last two seasons. Press box stats list him with 11 last season and nine in 2012. The most penalties in a single season by any other tight end the last two years is 7 by Chicago's Martellus Bennett last year. Fumbles Since the name was brought up I looked up stats for Bennett and found his career numbers (receptions & yards) very comparable to Gresham. Bennett: 213 receptions 2301 yards 10.8 ypr Gresham: 220 receptions 2278 yards 10.4 ypr Now with the same amount of receptions pretty much guess how many fumbles each man has? Bennett: 2 fumbles (approx once every 107 receptions) Gresham: 8 fumbles (approx once every 28 receptions) ....& for reference Gronk: 2 fumbles in 230 receptions (approx once every 115 receptions) Graham: 3 fumbles in 309 receptions (approx once every 103 receptions) Pitta: 0 fumbles in 132 receptions (no math needed) My point is this....as much as I like Gresham's skill set, when you compare him to a TE with similar statistics (not a Gronk or a Graham or a Pitta, who are the guys he most likely is referring to from his draft class) Gresham's lack of concentration seems alarming. Approximately twice the penalties in the last 2 seasons (since by the info above Bennett had 13 or less) and 4 times the fumbles as Bennett, who as I said has comparable reception/yards totals. Knowing this and knowing Bennett probably ranks somewhere in the middle of the pack as far as TEs go then it's fair to say that while Gresham may have some skills that are possibly greater than Bennett's his overall game performance isn't any better. I don't know what Gresham's beef is or with whom and I don't know why he feels like the 'villain'. Maybe he has very good reason to feel that way, maybe not. He is however a professional football player who as he said is "paid well" so he needs to quit whining and worry more about his lack of concentration on the football field. I personally don't think he is all that great and I still stand by my calling him a bone-head at times because week in & week out you can almost count on it anymore. But as I said as long as he is in a Bengals uniform I will root for the guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|High School Harry| Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 Just shut up and play the game... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gatorclaws Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 People shit on Gresh because he fails to live up to his potential. If he cut back on the penalties and fumbles, he'd be an absolute stud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inigo Montoya Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 It's almost like fans react negatively when someone commits drive-killing penalties, drops passes, fumbles the ball or otherwise screws up at the worst possible moment on a weekly basis, season after season. That about sums it up. Just about every game you can count on him to fuck something up, probably more than once. Other than that he is great. Classic example of million dollar talent and two cent brain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriZENry Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 I am always reminded of the Pro Bowl pre-game clip where Peyton is drawing up a play on the white board and is explaining it to Jermaine who looks like Homer Simpson when Mr. Burns is trying to explain something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.A.B. Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 ...... Don't you even. I'm borderline convinced Andy's on his way to pulling off the greatest season in Bengals history, myself. Lets let it play out, brotha. WHO DEY! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueridge Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 Some people seem to have an unquenchable thirst to run Gresham down and denigrate his ability. They are fools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|High School Harry| Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 Some people seem to have an unquenchable thirst to run Gresham down and denigrate his ability. They are fools. Lapham called him "the most gifted athlete on the team". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 I think Hue might be the best thing to happen to Gresh. Now that Eifert is out, we need him. I trust Hue to get the best out of him. He has the talent to be a beast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumble In the Jungle Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 I love Gresham and hope he stays here a long time. He's a monster. Eifert to me can't touch Gresham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cincity Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 People shit on Gresh because he fails to live up to his potential. If he cut back on the penalties and fumbles, he'd be an absolute stud. Exactly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HairOnFire Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 Gresham is only confirming everything I'be been saying about him for years. He's probably the weakest player on the Bengals roster when it comes to mental toughness, poise, clutch play, leadership, etc. Might have the biggest set of rabbit ears in the NFL. And he's wrong about fans expecting him to be like Jimmy Graham or Gronkowski or whatever competent TE you care to name. That ship sailed years ago. Most Bengal fans like myself no longer bother comparing Gresham to elite TE's or even good ones for that matter. Rather, comparisons these days are restricted to measuring the real Gresham against some mythical version of himself that doesn't suck outright. Hope he doesn't start crying when he reads this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRAPradio Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 Gresham is only confirming everything I'be been saying about him for years. He's probably the weakest player on the Bengals roster when it comes to mental toughness, poise, clutch play, leadership, etc. Might have the biggest set of rabbit ears in the NFL. And he's wrong about fans expecting him to be like Jimmy Graham or Gronkowski or whatever competent TE you care to name. That ship sailed years ago. Most Bengal fans like myselfno longer bother comparing Gresham to elite TE's or even good ones for that matter. Rather, comparisons these days are restricted to measuring the real Gresham against some mythical version of himself that doesn't suck outright. Hope he doesn't start crying when he reads this. I think he compares more to Heath Miller. Unfortunately I think Miller is better, or at least more reliable/consistent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Lucid| Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 People shit on Gresh because he fails to live up to his potential. If he cut back on the penalties and fumbles, he'd be an absolute stud. Agreed, I keep holding out hope for him, but I have to admit my sphincter puckers when he's running with that ball like he's holding a loaf of bread. The penalties are one thing, but his penchant for fumbles is just too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newprodigy101 Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 People shit on Gresh because he fails to live up to his potential. If he cut back on the penalties and fumbles, he'd be an absolute stud. This Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Hopeful Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 This type of mentality is not good for a player. We see how this played out for Maualuga too. As a professional athlete you can't care about what people say. You just have to play the game. Does Gresham have the talent to be elite? Absolutely. We all know that. He just needs to put it together. This is concerning to me though. Knowing that he pays attention and seeks out what is said about him shows a lot of immaturity and lack of confidence. I hope he has a great season and I would love for him and Eifert to be teammates for aong time but I can't see him sticking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scharm Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 If Trufant is the hero then Gresh is the villain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turningpoint Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 I'm still waiting for that play where Gresham flat out carries a cornerback with him for a td. Like get on my back little buddy i'll take you places haha. Gresham is one of my favorites, you can't find a big nasty TE like that, i wish he wouldn't be stuck blocking so much. I know there plays out there where he could fake block, fake fall down and get up and make a huge long yardage catches. I know he'll eventually have a big game this season. i still remember the bills game where he had some huge back should catches on the sideline. Hope there's more of that too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|schotzee| Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 Fans are fickle Gresh.Especially this one. :) Make more positive plays when called upon to help the team and that's all that matters . Take care of what you can control and don't worry about what other tight ends do or don't do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 I don't hate Gresham. But he is frustrating. He is a big fast guy with the tools to be one of the best and most complete TEs in the NFL. But he too often makes a mistake at the wrong time. I don't expect him to put up Graham or Gronk numbers because he's not the number 1 target here. But he needs to cut down on the errors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalsOwn Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 Someone needs to get this moron off of twitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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