THE BROO VIEW with Ken Broo

Happy New Year!

Lousy way for the Bengals to start it off. What made this team feel worse: losing to the Steelers or watching Denver lose to the 49ers? If the Bengals had beaten the Steelers Sunday, they'd've been in the playoffs. Now, it's an off season of second guessing, talking about fixing things and probably an arrest of two.

I made this statement on "Bengals Feedback" Sunday night on 700 WLW: if you don't believe all the off field troubles this team endured this past season didn't affect the on field performance, you're wrong. They did, and here's why.

Sitting out a three game suspension, one game from the Bengals and two from the NFL for his off field escapades, Chris Henry missed the Bengals game at Tampa, a 14-13 loss. Being the playmaker that he is, would it not be beyond the realm of reason to suggest that Henry would have made a handful of plays that either would have resulted in a touchdown or simply keeping a drive alive? I think so. Could his presence have led to a touchdown or field goal that would have won the game? I think so.

Second year linebacker, Odell Thurman, sat out the entire season for failing substance abuse tests multiple times. Last season, Thurman was a playmaker, with 84 tackles, five interceptions and four forced fumbles. Could his presences have stopped the Buccaneers in their field long drive to the game winning touchdown? Could Thurman have come up with a play that would have stopped the Chargers in their second half rally against the Bengals this year? I think so.

So the next time someone tells you what a player does off the field is no distraction to the players who're trying to win games, you've got two good examples.

This Bengals teams needs to grow up, shut up and start concentrating on the things that matter.
Championships aren't won in night clubs, in the media or with endorsement deals. They're won by carrying yourself as a professional on and off the field.

See who wins the Super Bowl this season. I'll bet they'll have more wins than player arrests. Our 2006 Cincinnati Bengals can't make that statement, can they?