Bengals release LB Odell Thurman
editor1 |May 19,2008
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CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- The Cincinnati Bengals finally cut ties
with Odell Thurman, releasing the troubled linebacker on Monday.
The move came nearly one month after the NFL reinstated Thurman
from a league-imposed drug suspension.
But the Bengals evidently want nothing more to do with Thurman,
who missed three voluntary practices last week.
"The NFL provided Odell the opportunity to earn his way back
onto our team," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said in a statement.
"But we have not seen the right steps taken by him."
According to a report published by the Cincinnati Enquirer,
Thurman's agent, Safarrah Lawson, claimed that his client was in
his native Georgia last week to attend his grandmother's
funeral and tend to other family matters.
"The support he got from the fans, from the people of
Cincinnati, from Marvin Lewis and (team president) Mike Brown,
this comes as a surprise," Lawson told the newspaper.
Once considered a cornerstone of Cincinnati's defense, Thurman
apparently became expendable when the Bengals used their
first-round draft selection on talented linebacker Keith Rivers.
The ninth overall pick, Rivers is expected to compete for a
starting outside linebacker job with Ahmad Brooks and Rashad
Jeanty.
"With our offseason work in progress and new talent added at our
linebacker position, we've determined it's best to keep moving
in a direction that does not include Odell," Lewis said.
Thurman was not on the Bengals roster in 2006 or 2007 after
being suspended for violating the league's substance abuse
policy.
A second-round draft selection in 2005, Thurman was suspended by
the NFL for the first four games in 2006 after skipping a drug
test. That ban was extended to a full season following his
arrest for a DUI in September of that year.
In June 2007, Thurman ran into some more trouble after he was
accused of assaulting two men in Georgia.
Thurman led the Bengals with 148 tackles during his rookie
season in 2005. He also led all rookies with five interceptions
and forced four fumbles.
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