Bengals grab DT Shirley

With the 145th overall pick in the draft, their lone fifth-round selection, the Bengals have chosen defensive tackle Jason Shirley of Fresno State. He is 6 feet, 5 inches and 338 pounds.

He was arrested in October for suspension of driving under the influence.

By Shannon Russell
srussell@enquirer.com

The Bengals took a big risk by picking Fresno State defensive tackle Jason Shirley in the fifth round of Sunday’s NFL draft.

Not because of his football skills, but because of his checkered past.

The Bengals, reeling from 10 player arrests in a 14-month span in 2006 and 2007, made a surprise move in Shirley. He played only three games last season because of three separate off-field incidents and suspensions.

“It’s a little bit of a risk, yes,” coach Marvin Lewis said. “There’s a lot of guys who have gone over the last two days with more substantial things hanging over their heads.”

The 6-foot-5, 330-pound former Bulldog was suspended for Fresno State’s first two games for conduct detrimental to the team.

“That was a team issue, a personal team issue with coaches and teammates. I made a bad decision and it was one of those things that I had to pay for,” Shirley said.

He crashed his car into an apartment building Oct. 8 and fled the accident scene. He posted a blood-alcohol level of 0.12 -- which is well beyond the state’s 0.08 legal limit, the Associated Press reported, and was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Shirley was suspended from the team for the season, but returned four weeks later when athletic director Thomas Boeh reversed his decision.

Shirley had medical documents that showed a concussion he received days before the crash, according to the Fresno Bee. His reprieve didn’t last long. Shirley was dismissed from the team almost one month later. He was cited on suspicion of driving with a suspended license and expired tags. He pleaded not guilty to two counts of driving under the influence and one count of hit-and-run because of the October incidents.

A jury trial is pending.

“I have a court date May 21. And right now, everything’s going kind of smooth. I can’t really get into the details about it, as advised to me by my lawyer, but it’s going smooth,” Shirley said. “It’s looking real good, and hopefully I can get that expunged off my record.”

Lewis said Shirley was “a guy we’ve done a lot of homework on,” and that the Bengals believe the case’s outcome will favor Shirley.

Shirley became the teams’ second defensive tackle drafted this weekend, following Auburn’s Pat Sims, who was selected in Round 3. Shirley took off the spring semester to prepare for the draft and said he’s just four classes shy of graduating with a degree in African-American Studies. He plans to graduate next spring.

Shirley hoped his past wouldn’t affect his chances to be drafted. He conveyed to Bengals officials that he is not the person his previous actions indicate.

“I was just making sure to them, that they knew that what happened was in the past,” Shirley said. “I really am a good person, and the things that happened to me off the field were just some mistakes that I made that’s not in my character.”