A couple of years ago when everyone was getting arrested, the Bengals were a punchline not for being bad, but because they seemingly didn’t have a player on their roster that wanted to abide by the law for a single day.

Things have cleaned up — kind of — but the newest addition to the Bengals probably won’t help their somewhat cleaned up look.

The Bengals have added the infamous Chris Henry to their roster, after they just cut him loose this last year because of an assault charge that was pending.

Henry says he’s cleaned up, that he’s going to have to make the right decisions, but I think we heard all of this after first, second and third arrests. He’s from West Virginia, like Pacman, and you’ve got to start wondering if they just breed these guys out there.

It’s the early odds on team’s chances to make the Super Bowl. What are your team’s chances? Just look below. My team, the Falcons, well, they’re pretty much as long a shot as there is, and at 100-1, I think that’s kind of unfair (this one should be somewhere in the thousands or millions). Pats at 7-2? Chargers at 7-1? I like that action. . .

Arizona Cardinals 50 - 1
Atlanta Falcons 100 - 1
Baltimore Ravens 75 - 1
Buffalo Bills 50 - 1
Carolina Panthers 40 - 1
Chicago Bears 35 - 1
Cincinnati Bengals 60 - 1
Cleveland Browns 25 - 1
Dallas Cowboys 6 - 1
Denver Broncos 50 - 1
Detroit Lions 80 - 1
Green Bay Packers 25 - 1
Houston Texans 60 - 1
Indianapolis Colts 7 - 1
Jacksonville Jaguars 12 - 1
Kansas City Chiefs 100 - 1
Miami Dolphins 100 - 1
Minnesota Vikings 18 - 1
New England Patriots 7 - 2
New Orleans Saints 25 - 1
New York Giants 15 - 1
New York Jets 35 - 1
Oakland Raiders 50 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles 20 - 1
Pittsburgh Steelers 15 - 1
Saint Louis Rams 75 - 1
San Diego Chargers 7 - 1
San Francisco 49ers 80 - 1
Seattle Seahawks 25 - 1
Tampa Bay Buccanneers 40 - 1
Tennessee Titans 40 - 1
Washington Redskins 50 - 1

There’s never enough Madden 09 previews, and with that said, I present you with yet another. As long as these things keep popping out, I’m going ot keep showing them.

I posted the original trailer, but this one seems to be the actual gameplay, which is so much more revealing than the closeups that come out at first. Enjoy.

When the whole Chad Johnson Is Leaving The Bengals Thing happened, I figured he was for sure not going to be in a Cincinnati uniform next year. Then no trades happened. Then they vetoed a trade with the Redskins that would have given Cincinnati a first round pick. Then, before you know it, every time that would have been optimal to trade Johnson. . . well, those times had passed.

And now, realizing he’s not completely stupid, he’s decided he’ll return to the Bengals to collect his paycheck.

“If we want to be like Indy and New England, we have to pay and bring in some difference-makers on defense,” Johnson said. “Our offense is fine. But if they’re fussing about paying a guy like me, a guy among the best in the league, you know damn well the Bengals aren’t gonna supply the defense with what it needs. So I just said, ‘If we aren’t gonna do what we need to make us win — can I please leave?’ It’s simple. I just told ‘em: ‘If y’all won’t change, then I have to.’”

If the Bengals need a playmaker on defense, why not just bring back Odell Thurman?

Here’s a look at Madden 09, which features Brett Favre on the cover, which is probably bad for Brett. Before, Madden only ruined a person’s statistics. Now, it’s gonna mess up sonmeone’s fishing trip on a nice Saturday.

The NFL has decided not to fine a team for NFL priors, something the League had been mulling over for a while now.

FOXSports.com has learned new league rules resulting in fines for clubs whose players are suspended for off-field violations begin June 1. But the NFL is pardoning franchises whose players’ legal problems occurred before then.

“The policy on club fines is being applied going forward (prospectively), not retroactively,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wrote in a Tuesday email. “The plan is that the club to be fined will be the club to which the player belonged at the time of the arrest or violation. But it only applies to arrests or violations occurring after June 1.”

The article points out that this is very good for teams like the Vikings, who had a boat sex scandal worth of violations, as well as the Bengals, who had, well, Chris Henry. And that’s enough violations in itself.

Chris Henry wants to try out for other NFL teams, and thanks to a forgiving Judge that wants to see him fuck up as badly as I do, he’s been granted permission to travel for those try outs.

“We’re willing to give him some latitude given the fact that he obviously needs to find some employment,” Bernat said.

The 24-year-old wide receiver has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of assault and criminal damaging dating to March, when a University of Cincinnati student told police that Henry punched him in the head and damaged his car.

His first stop should be Dallas — who will take all misfits alike — and if that doesn’t work, his next stop should be Europe. I mean, seriously: The guy goes out of his way to get in trouble. No one’s going to sign him.

The day after the draft, and it’s time to see who the winners and losers are. I’m not one who believes you can pick winners and losers the day later — I think it takes two years, not three, like most of the experts say to see who really won — but with that said, I will say this: Tennessee, m’friends, you were losers. They drafted Chris Johnson in the first round, a halfback who’s fast, and that’s about it. In the fourth round, they drafted William Hayes, who wasn’t a player expected to be picked in the full seven rounds.

Aw, such is life; we’ll know more of who won and who lost when the season starts, but for now I cling to the hope that Matt Ryan’s a combination of Michael Vick (without the animal abuse, of course), Brett Favre (without the interceptions, of course), Tom Brady (without being a dick, of course), Dan Marino (without the anger, of course), and Peyton Manning (without being a, you know, a Manning, of course).

The draft is pretty much over, at least anything important, but I guess I should at least make some sort of comments on the first ten picks. They were as follows:

1. Miami, Jake Long: We knew this pick a week ago, and it’ll probably be the safest of this draft. You need a tackle to anchor the line, and getting one that’s 6′7″ and 317 pounds is a solid way to start.

2. St. Louis, Chris Long: Son of Howie; long, athletic guy. The Rams needed help on defense, and he’ll be plugged in there immediately. I was a little surprised, though, that they passed on Dorsey.

3. Atlanta, Matt Ryan: Questionable pick. Dorsey was on the board. Good quarterbacks can definitely be gotten in the later rounds. That said, there’s no great QB’s coming out in next year’s draft, so this may have been their only option.

4. Oakland, Darren McFadden: Surprised? Not if you know Al Davis, who loves speed, doesn’t care about character, and wants a big name playing for his organization.

5. Kansas City, Glenn Dorsey: He’s a steal at the fifth pick. The Chiefs have depth at DT, and it wasn’t their biggest need, but you can’t pass up on what’s probably the best player in the draft when he slips to No. 5.

6. New York Jets, Vernon Gholston: I’m used to hearing Jets fans boo when they announce their selection, but this name brought only cheers. He’s a freak of a talent, but he’s going to have to apply it to the field; if you look at his stats in college, they’re not all that remarkable, but he should fit in well in a 3-4 defensive scheme.

7. New Orleans, Sedrick Ellis: He was the best defensive tackle after Dorsey, and some think he’ll be a better pro. At any rate, New Orleans needed help on their line, and they got it.

8. Jacksonville, Derrick Harvey: They traded up, gave up a lot, and at the eight spot maybe made the biggest reach in this draft. Derrick Harvey played one great game against Ohio State two years ago, but has been a sub-par defensive end otherwise.

9. Cincinnati, Keith Rivers: They need to start going after guys that can affect a locker-room in a positive way, and they did that with this pick. Rivers may not be an athletic freak, but he’s a smart player on and off the field.

10. New England, Jerod Mayo: Good pick. He’s smart, and he’ll fit right in with New England, who loves players with high football intelligence. He’s got a ton of up-side, and though a little small, he’s very explosive.