Story of Johnathan Joseph's arrest

A couple of readers of this blog apparently do not check out the Enquirer's Web site and asked for the details on the Johnathan Joseph arrest. Here they are from the Jan. 23, 2007, Enquirer:

The case of Johnathan Joseph, the ninth Bengals player arrested since Jan. 1, 2006, brings into focus the fine line Cincinnati has tried to walk in turning the corner from NFL pretender to contender.

The second-year cornerback was arrested early Monday morning in Boone County on possession of marijuana.

Out of the 16 players the Bengals took in the 2005 and 2006 drafts, six have now been arrested.

The other players are linebacker Odell Thurman, wide receiver Chris Henry, defensive end Frostee Rucker, linebacker A.J. Nicholson and wide receiver Reggie McNeal.

Four of those six players arrested were drafted in the first three rounds: Thurman and Henry (second- and third-round picks in 2005) and Joseph and Rucker (first- and third-round picks in 2006).

There's no denying the on-field talent of many of the players who get into trouble in their off-hours.

Joseph started nine games and played in all 16 as a rookie. He led the team with 19 passes knocked down and was sixth defensively with 67 total tackles. He has excellent speed and quickness and is a capable tackler in run support.

But the off-field problems have affected the team, which missed the playoffs this season, on the field.

The Bengals lost Thurman, the team's leading tackler as a rookie in 2005, to a pair of NFL suspensions for violating its substance-abuse policy. He did not play a down in 2006 and might not play again for Cincinnati.

The arrests also drew the attention of the NFL commissioner and have made the Bengals the butt of national jokes. The Bengals led the NFL in the unofficial category of players arrested with eight during the 2006 calendar year, two more than San Diego. No database is known to exist that would allow a historical comparison of arrests between the 2006 Bengals and other NFL teams through the years.

Bengals PR director Jack Brennan on Monday repeated the organization's policy of not commenting on ongoing legal issues involving a player.

"We don't comment on these cases when they are still at the point of charges," Brennan said. "We don't think that would be appropriate."

'They do crave discipline'

Efforts to obtain comment from Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis were unsuccessful Monday. In his postseason news conference Jan. 2 and again last week during an interview with The Enquirer, Lewis emphasized his need to get tough with players.

"I think there's an outcry from our guys to go back that way," Lewis said Jan. 2. "I hear it and see it, so my challenge is to go back to that. We've tried to allow guys to grow - both mature as men and mature as players.

"But the thing we continue to find is they've got to be constantly policed and corrected. ... They long for that from me to be that way to be, I guess, the hard-ass all the time in certain areas. So we'll make sure I give them what they want. They do crave discipline."

The coach had resorted to fines as punishment. No more. He will cut playing time.

Joseph is charged with possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor. He was taken into custody at 2:15 a.m. after a car in which he was a passenger was stopped at U.S. 42 and Braxton Road. A Boone County sheriff's deputy said he stopped the 1999 gold Ford for weaving in and out of lanes at a slow rate of speed. A police report states the vehicle crossed the center line three times.

The driver, Kelsy Glover of Fairfield, was charged with careless driving and operating on a suspended license. Glover told the deputy that she was eating food and reaching for Joseph's juice when she was stopped, according to the report.

The police report states the deputy searched a Super Bowl XL backpack Joseph was holding after smelling a strong odor of marijuana during the traffic stop. Marijuana was found in the backpack next to a video game system, deputies said.

Joseph, of Union, was released from the Boone County jail early Monday.

Joseph, even though not convicted, must attend treatment sessions as a first-time violator of NFL policy. Punishment is spelled out in the league's collective bargaining agreement and is currently out of the Bengals' control.

A second violation would bring a four-game suspension, and the third strike brings one-year banishment.

Looking for integrity

Character counts in the NFL, or at least that's the unofficial motto.

Several Bengals coaches, including Lewis, will be in Mobile, Ala., this week, scouting top draft-eligible college players at the Senior Bowl. The annual NFL scouting combine is next month in Indianapolis, where the Bengals and other teams frequently discuss the importance of character and integrity in the players they bring into the organization.

Interviews lasting 15 minutes are held with dozens of players at Indianapolis. The goal is to learn more about the person. Teams have game film, sprint times and weight-lifting results to measure a player's on-field skills.

In the past few years, Lewis has talked about the excellent character of players such as guard Eric Steinbach and linebacker Landon Johnson and intelligence of offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth, whom he got to know during combine interviews.

Last year, when the Bengals announced Joseph as their first-round pick, Lewis and the other coaches said the defensive back had a solid character and would bring no personal baggage into the NFL. Everybody talked about what Joseph would do on the field.

"He's a guy who has the height, the speed and the athleticism to make cuts in and out of the breaks that you look for in a tall corner," Lewis said in April.

Since then, the focus has turned to the Bengals' off-field behavior issues, which have caught the attention of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. In December, Goodell called Bengals president Mike Brown and offered his help in stopping the arrest problem.

"Obviously, when you have incidents that don't reflect well on the National Football League, you have to deal with that aggressively," Goodell said Dec. 12. "Our players and coaches are seen at a higher level by the public."

A call placed Monday to Greg Aiello, NFL vice president of public relations and the commissioner's spokesman, was not returned.

Goodell, who succeeded Paul Tagliabue before the start of the season, visited Cincinnati in September.

Goodell told reporters then that he spoke sternly to Bengals players.

"I was very direct with the players about their responsibility in their community and what they represent in their community and how important they are in setting a positive tone," Goodell said during his visit. "I think they understood the message."

Enquirer reporter Jim Hannah contributed.