http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft08/news/story?id=3371633
I mean seriously...WTF
Then, in the fifth round, the Bengals took a defensive tackle who has a defense lawyer and a court date.
Jason Shirley missed most of his final season at Fresno State while getting arrested and serving three suspensions -- the kind of background that the Bengals have overlooked in the past and regretted.
"This is a little bit of a risk, yes," Lewis acknowledged. "But there's a lot of guys who have gone [in the earlier rounds] over the last two days with more substantial things hanging over their heads. At this point in the draft, we felt like his ability and potential and what was pending and so forth, that we were able to deal with it."
Shirley was suspended for the first two games last season for violating a team rule. He played in three games, then was suspended again after he allegedly crashed a car into an apartment complex on Oct. 8 and fled the scene.
He was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. Police said he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.12, above the legal limit of 0.08 in California. His trial is scheduled for May 21. His defense lawyer blames a concussion sustained on the field before the accident.
Shirley was reinstated to the team after the accident, then suspended again for the rest of the season after he was charged with driving with a suspended license and expired registration.
"I'm just overwhelmed with the opportunity," Shirley said, in a conference call with Cincinnati reporters. "I just want to thank everybody on the coaching staff for giving me an opportunity to come to Cincinnati and show what I can do. I've had off-the-field issues. All of that is behind me now."
Cincinnati took a different kind of risk in the third round, choosing a player with limited experience. Defensive tackle Pat Sims started only 13 games in his career at Auburn, taking off the 2005 season to regroup after his sister died of a heart attack.
"I needed some time away from football to get myself together," Sims said. "It was something I needed to get over, and get back to being my normal self."
I mean seriously...WTF
Then, in the fifth round, the Bengals took a defensive tackle who has a defense lawyer and a court date.
Jason Shirley missed most of his final season at Fresno State while getting arrested and serving three suspensions -- the kind of background that the Bengals have overlooked in the past and regretted.
"This is a little bit of a risk, yes," Lewis acknowledged. "But there's a lot of guys who have gone [in the earlier rounds] over the last two days with more substantial things hanging over their heads. At this point in the draft, we felt like his ability and potential and what was pending and so forth, that we were able to deal with it."
Shirley was suspended for the first two games last season for violating a team rule. He played in three games, then was suspended again after he allegedly crashed a car into an apartment complex on Oct. 8 and fled the scene.
He was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. Police said he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.12, above the legal limit of 0.08 in California. His trial is scheduled for May 21. His defense lawyer blames a concussion sustained on the field before the accident.
Shirley was reinstated to the team after the accident, then suspended again for the rest of the season after he was charged with driving with a suspended license and expired registration.
"I'm just overwhelmed with the opportunity," Shirley said, in a conference call with Cincinnati reporters. "I just want to thank everybody on the coaching staff for giving me an opportunity to come to Cincinnati and show what I can do. I've had off-the-field issues. All of that is behind me now."
Cincinnati took a different kind of risk in the third round, choosing a player with limited experience. Defensive tackle Pat Sims started only 13 games in his career at Auburn, taking off the 2005 season to regroup after his sister died of a heart attack.
"I needed some time away from football to get myself together," Sims said. "It was something I needed to get over, and get back to being my normal self."
