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Whit believed in Dalton from the start


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https://www.bengals.com/news/notebook-big-willie-summit-whit-believed-in-dalton-from-start-dennard-all-out-ef

 

WHIT HAD DALTON’S BACK EARLY: The Bengals see another one of their all-time offensive lineman Sunday when Andrew Whitworth plays his 207th NFL game lining up at left tackle for the Rams. His first 168 games came with the Bengals when he was an anchor left tackle and a key locker-room leader for a franchise that went to six post-seasons between 2009 and 2015.

 

And he admits it’s going to be odd playing against the stripes.

 

“It is going to be weird. The kids have asked. They’re excited to see the Bengals,” Whitworth said Wednesday night from Atlanta, where the Rams stayed over after beating the Falcons.

 

 “I am too. It’s a place you feel like you gave your heart and soul to it. It’s not one of those situations you see a guy leave and is mad about the team. I gave it all. I’m excited to see the team, excited to see Zac (Taylor). I’ve played long enough that it’s a cool moment if anything else.”

 

After Whitworth worked with Taylor at the Rams for the last two seasons, he became a big fan. And that’s a big guy to have on your side, never mind that he’s 6-8 and 330. If Whitworth is with you, he’s with you.

 

Just ask Andy Dalton.

 

When the Bengals pulled off their re-boot of 2011 drafting A.J. Green one and Dalton two in response to Carson Palmer’s trade demand, Whitworth is a major reason it worked. After the Bengals lost their first two pre-season games by scores of 34-3 and 27-7, he headed off a revolt by some defensive players that planned to fly to California and try to entice Palmer out of retirement.

 

Whitworth had help from other veterans, such as right guard Bobby Williams coming out publicly endorsing Dalton with “No. 14 is my quarterback,” and Whitworth was in the middle of a meeting with head coach Marvin Lewis and some team leaders. The revolt was defused. Dalton outplayed No. 1 pick Cam Newton the next week in Cincinnati, they started the season 6-2 and went on to make the playoffs five straight years.

 

“Defending Andy is something I’ll always remember. I thought it was the right thing to do,” Whitworth said. “We won a lot of games.

 

“It’s the 10-10-10 thing. Ten days. Ten months. Ten years. I just hope ten years from now the guys I played with there in that locker room can look back and go, ‘Man, you know what? I can honestly say that dude did have my best interest at heart and really wanted what’s best for me.’ That’s the only thing I would care about beyond respect on the field. That the guys respected you as a teammate.”

 

He’s certainly got it from the guy whose career he helped jump-start.

 

“Whit was my guy. He was the first guy that I talked to when I got drafted,” Dalton said. “I stayed at his house during the lockout when we were doing some workouts up here. He’s meant so much to this team and this organization. He had a great career here, not only with what he did within the organization, but with what he did in the community. Whit was a guy that had an unbelievable time here in Cincinnati.”

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35 minutes ago, PatternMaster said:

Can't believe this organization tried to low-ball Whit. What he meant to the locker room and the other players was invaluable.

 

The downfall of the Bengals can be traced to when they let Whit walk over a few dollars.

Meh, it wasn't like he was their best and most important player..., oh wait

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14 minutes ago, SF2 said:

Meh, it wasn't like he was their best and most important player..., oh wait

Yeah who needs a franchise LT and locker room leader... especially when you guys like Pacman and Burfict on the roster...amirite!!

 

He should have retired a Bengal, no questions asked...but hey saved a few million dollars

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4 hours ago, PatternMaster said:

Can't believe this organization tried to low-ball Whit. What he meant to the locker room and the other players was invaluable.

 

The downfall of the Bengals can be traced to when they let Whit walk over a few dollars.

 

Says everything you need to know about the owner's priorities.  

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8 hours ago, PatternMaster said:

Yeah who needs a franchise LT and locker room leader... especially when you guys like Pacman and Burfict on the roster...amirite!!

 

He should have retired a Bengal, no questions asked...but hey saved a few million dollars

A fucking embarrassment of an already embarrassing front office. 

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16 hours ago, PatternMaster said:

Can't believe this organization tried to low-ball Whit. What he meant to the locker room and the other players was invaluable.

 

The downfall of the Bengals can be traced to when they let Whit walk over a few dollars.

yes you can

 

this franchise is inept in every fucking way.

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3 hours ago, PatternMaster said:

Saving a few million of shared revenue is more important than fielding a competitive team and protecting your franchise QB.

 

But they are "competitive".   They participate in each game for the alloted 60 minutes.  

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52 minutes ago, fluhartz said:

yes you can

 

this franchise is inept in every fucking way.

I understood, to a certain extent, letting Zeitler go. He got ridiculous money. But Whit? I’ll never get. 
 

Actually no, I think you do what you need to keep a very effective offensive line intact. I don’t even think it’s arguable that it, besides a competent defense, is the most important unit on the field. 
 

My impression of the Pats (and Stealers) traditionally, is that they have three things in common, perhaps four: a solid offensive line that are well coached to perform their scheme, a good, well coached defensive unit, HOF QB, and, not as sure about Tomlin, but, solid if not otherworldly coaching.

 

We have zero of those four, proven, at the moment. Hence, we are 0-7.

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1 hour ago, thezerawkid said:

I understood, to a certain extent, letting Zeitler go. He got ridiculous money. But Whit? I’ll never get. 
 

Actually no, I think you do what you need to keep a very effective offensive line intact. I don’t even think it’s arguable that it, besides a competent defense, is the most important unit on the field. 
 

My impression of the Pats (and Stealers) traditionally, is that they have three things in common, perhaps four: a solid offensive line that are well coached to perform their scheme, a good, well coached defensive unit, HOF QB, and, not as sure about Tomlin, but, solid if not otherworldly coaching.

 

We have zero of those four, proven, at the moment. Hence, we are 0-7.

I am still one of the ones saying we should have paid Zeitler. The main reason is , even at that time, there was a serious shortage of good OL in the league so the cost of these good ones was rising and was going to continue to rise. And this is exactly how it played out. It was very predictable. Had they kept Whit and Zeit they would have used Fisher/Og as backups and eventually discovered they sucked and let them go - the effect would have minimized.

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1 hour ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

I am still one of the ones saying we should have paid Zeitler. The main reason is , even at that time, there was a serious shortage of good OL in the league so the cost of these good ones was rising and was going to continue to rise. And this is exactly how it played out. It was very predictable. Had they kept Whit and Zeit they would have used Fisher/Og as backups and eventually discovered they sucked and let them go - the effect would have minimized.

I agree, quality offensive lineman are a rare commodity in the NFL. Good franchises do what it takes to keep their top talent. 

 

The Bengals front office used an out-dated compensation model to assign valuations to Whitworth and Zeitler, and now it's costing them dearly. Refusing to pay market rates for top talent is a sure fire way for any organization to lose market share and suffer from decreased performance in whatever industry they operate.

 

Does anyone running the Bengals have an MBA or experience working with a billion dollar operation? The decision making process of the front office is mind boggling.

 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, BENGALS666 said:

The good news is - expect this from here on out.

BTW, who is a good other team to pull for?

Obviously, the New Orleans Saints.  Different conference, cool city to party in, only gotta change "Dey" to "Dat" and they hate San Francisco as much as the Bengals do.  11-45-2 against those cocksuckers when they were in the same conference.

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I grew up north of Indy (but moved to Cincinnati prior to the Colts’ move from Baltimore), so I find it easy to root for them...unless it affects the Bengals’ playoff chances.  Of course, that’s not an issue this year.

 

I also like the Saints due to Boilermaker Drew Brees.  

 

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7 hours ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

My second team is the Vikings, closest team to me and we share the Bud Grant coaching connection with our CFL team. 

Mine, too. I like Zimmer, purple is my favorite color, and in 1994, they won me $336.00 in a football pool.

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I don't care enough about the NFL to have a second team. Although, way back in history, I bled Iggle green. Grew up around there, and the first sights of the game were at Franklin Field and the first seasons of the Vet. They sucked back then as bad--if not worse--than the present day Bengals. Want to see a bad--really bad--QB? Look up the name Pete Liske.

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Andrew Whitworth is defying logic with his career post Bengals. I still don't have a problem with my team letting a 34? year old at the time offensive linemen who was expecting to be paid top tackle money walk in free agency. It just didn't make sense. If he became injured like Willie Anderson and we were blowing a large percentage of our salary cap on him, he would be vilified (like Willie was)

 

It's easy to use hindsight and say they fucked up. Clearly we would be in a better spot with him. 

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51 minutes ago, BengalsOwn said:

Andrew Whitworth is defying logic with his career post Bengals. I still don't have a problem with my team letting a 34? year old at the time offensive linemen who was expecting to be paid top tackle money walk in free agency. It just didn't make sense. If he became injured like Willie Anderson and we were blowing a large percentage of our salary cap on him, he would be vilified (like Willie was)

 

It's easy to use hindsight and say they fucked up. Clearly we would be in a better spot with him. 

At the time there was no evidence of Whit's play declining and at the time they already had a strong indication, or should have, that Og and Fisher were not ready (or never will be). It should have been an easy decision ESPECIALLY for a team that frequently says it is loyal to the core.

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