The Cincinnati Bengals had to expect that their decision to draft running back Joe Mixon would lead to some backlash, but they might not have expected such a loud outcry from one of he city’s TV stations.
Cincinnati’s WCPO, the city’s local ABC affiliate, posted a scathing online editorial on Saturday after the Bengals made Mixon the No. 48 pick in the draft. The Mixon pick was a source of huge controversy, as he punched a female student in the face while at Oklahoma, leading to his suspension for the 2014 season.
The editorial urges fans to boycott the Bengals over their selection of Mixon, as well as their decision to stand by defensive back Pacman Jones after his offseason arrest. It uses Mixon’s 2016 incident with a parking attendant as evidence that he learned nothing, and points to previous treatment of Jones as evidence that the Bengals simply do not care about off-field behavior.
“The Bengals can’t control how a player acts,” the editorial reads. “But they can control how the organization handles incidents’ like Adam Jones’ arrest. The team can control the types of players it signs, drafts and trades for.
“Apparently, Mike Brown, Marvin Lewis and the Bengals management think winning is all that matters. Apparently, those franchise leaders don’t care about potentially alienating the team’s female fans.”
The editorial concludes by calling for Bengals fans to donate the money they’d typically spend on tickets to organizations aimed at preventing violence against women.
The Bengals have long had a greater willingness than other organizations to acquire and stand by players with questionable off-field backgrounds, instead preferring to focus on the talent. Brown, the team’s owner, has admitted that he may be overtolerant. It’s hard to argue that at this point. It’s doubtful that enough people will be turned off of the Bengals by the Mixon pick to really make a dent on Brown’s bottom line, but such loud outcry from a fairly prominent area source is rather difficult to ignore at this point.
H/T ProFootballTalk
