The NFLPA has told agents of Bengals rookies "not to
sign any contract that contains" a loyalty clause, which
"would allow the club to take back some or all of a player's
signing bonus if he rips the Bengals, their coaches or any
team employee in the media," according to Sean Keeler of the
CINCINNATI POST. The contract of first-round draft pick
Peter Warrick, who has already signed with the team,
"doesn't include the clause, which was believed to be one of
the concessions the club made" to Warrick's agent Norm
Nixon. One agent for a Bengals draft pick, who said that he
supports the NFLPA's stance: "I told (my player), what if,
after a tough game, things went bad, you're sitting in front
of your locker and a (group) of reporters are there and you
say, `We suck?' Is that a violation of club policy?" But
Bengals President Mike Brown said that the policy would only
apply to "egregious cases," such as when WR Carl Pickens
"blasted" coach Bruce Coslet in front of reporters last year
(CINCINNATI POST, 6/10). Bengals OT Willie Anderson, who
agreed to the clause in his six-year, $30.6M deal last
month, said that the policy would "cut the media short" in
dealing with players: "You're not going to get a lot of
answers [from players]. Guys are going to be like, `Hey, I
don't want to (lose any money)" (AP, 6/12).
BALL GAMES: The Bengals have hired former RB Eric Ball
as Dir of Player Development & Community Relations where he
will work with players on personal matters and organize
their civic/charitable events (Bengals).
