Bengals CB Joseph Arrested for Marijuana Possession

[redlegsfan21]

By JOE KAY

CINCINNATI (AP) -Bengals cornerback Johnathan Joseph was arrested early Monday and charged with possession of marijuana, the ninth Cincinnati player arrested in the last nine months.

The arrest came three weeks after coach Marvin Lewis announced he would get tougher on player conduct, hoping to stop a series of arrests that has embarrassed the team and drawn the attention of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

"We don't comment on these matters when they're unresolved," team spokesman Jack Brennan said. "We don't believe it's appropriate when it's still at the level of charges."

Joseph was arrested on U.S. Route 42 in northern Kentucky. He lives nearby in Union, Ky. The Boone County sheriff's arrest report said Joseph was the passenger in a vehicle driven by a woman who had a suspended license, was driving slowly and weaving.

When a sheriff's deputy asked Joseph to get out of the vehicle so it could be searched, Joseph reached for a black backpack with a Super Bowl logo, the arrest report said. The deputy wrote in the report there was a "strong odor" of marijuana.

When the deputy began searching the backpack, Joseph "stated that there was a bag of marijuana" in the backpack, according to the arrest report. The deputy said he found a bag of marijuana in a pouch next to a video game.

Joseph was arrested at 2:15 a.m., taken to the county jail and released. His first court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 5. Marijuana possession is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum of one year in jail and a maximum $500 fine.

The Bengals have had the most arrests in the NFL over the past 13 months. Nine players have been arrested, and linebacker Odell Thurman and receiver Chris Henry have been suspended by the NFL for misconduct.

Henry has been arrested four times, the first time for possession of marijuana. Two of his court cases have been settled, and two are pending. Those two cases could bring additional punishment from the league, which suspended him for two games.

Thurman was suspended for the entire season for repeated violations of the league's substance-abuse policies. He skipped a drug test, drawing a four-game suspension. It was extended to a full season after a Sept. 25 arrest on a drunken-driving charge.

Joseph was the 24th overall pick in last season's draft. He played in every game and started eight of them, including the final seven in place of Deltha O'Neal. O'Neal was hurt and benched for one game after his Dec. 9 arrest on a drunken-driving charge.

Two days after O'Neal's arrest, Goodell called Bengals president Mike Brown to express his concern and offer help in ending the team's off-field problems. During a visit in September, Goodell reminded the players of their responsibility to stay out of trouble.

Lewis initially defended his players. But after Goodell's visit, he started taking a harder line publicly.

The Bengals lost their last three games to finish 8-8 and missed out on the playoffs. After the season, Lewis said some of the team's veterans had asked him to get tougher with the players.

"The biggest thing I would say to you is there's some things probably that in the first year or so (as head coach) I wouldn't tolerate, and I've become a little bit more tolerable of," Lewis said. "And I think there's an outcry from our guys to go back that way. I hear it and see it, so that's my challenge is to go back to that.

"We've tried to allow guys to both mature as men and mature as players. But the thing we continue to find is they've got to be constantly coached, policed and corrected so that at times of adversity, we can do the right things."

http://sports.myway.com/news/01222007/v3851.html

[ATLFalcons]

There was an article recently in ESPN The Magazine where Carson Palmer stated he didn't care about his teammates' off-field mishaps. All he wanted them to do was handle their business on the field. Do you think that's right?

[redlegsfan21]

I'm getting tired of it. This is a league-wide problem but the Bengals seem to do it most often. Look at Tank Johnson, he better hope that his judge isn't a Colts or Saints fan.

[Hut5]

I think Marvin Lewis hit on it in that last quote:
"We've tried to allow guys to both mature as men and mature as players. But the thing we continue to find is they've got to be constantly coached, policed and corrected so that at times of adversity, we can do the right things."
If they are immature men, that will carry over to the field. You can't really separate one from the other. In a case like this, somebody who likes to "party" (do drugs -even marijuana- or drink heavily), no matter his size or skills in the combine, he cannot be as sharp in a game as he should be.

I know what's on the field is what Palmer is concerned about, but it's really the same thing as what's off the field. He probably just thinks it's not his business to tell somebody else how to live.

I work in a factory where we have machines running, and if one person isn't pulling his weight, he doesn't last long. For one reason, nobody wants to work with him and wouldn't be above reporting him to the supervisor. If more of this happened on the football field, you'd never hear about the players doing drugs.

[ATLFalcons]

It's all about character and morals too. Obviously, these 9 players that were arrested have no morals.

[CCN]

It's all about character and morals too. Obviously, these 9 players that were arrested have no morals.
That's a bit harsh. You can't judge a person by newspaper clippings. While I'm not condoning what any of these players did, plenty of people, and good people, make errors in judgement that they thankfully don't get away with. That doesn't make them bad people by any stretch of imagination.

[brady_branch]

Joseph did make a mistake, but he did not try and deny it. He at least has some sense of morals.