Paul Brown Stadium would be a great home for Manti Te’o next season. by Derek Jensen, via Wikimedia Commons

Over the last ten years, the Cincinnati Bengals have taken chances on players. Most of the “chances” they’ve taken have been due to questionable character of their draftees. Some examples are Adam “Pacman” Jones and offensive lineman Andre Smith.  For years the franchise was mocked as the “Bungles” instead of Bengals for all the arrests of players on their roster combined with their average-at-best play on the field. But recently the “Bungles” talk has calmed down and the franchise has matured. Former quarterback Carson Palmer helped the Bengals by leading them to the playoffs in 2009, but never made the “next step” into being true contenders. After making the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since the early 1980s, this team is poised to make that true next step toward contention. Despite early playoff exits, both coming against the Houston Texans, the Bengals future looks bright and they can make it even more exciting during the upcoming NFL draft.

The Bengals defense is one of the best and youngest defenses in the NFL and showed signs of what they are capable of last season ranking seventh in allowed passing yards and twelfth in allowed rushing yards. With weak pass coverage from linebackers, many tight ends torched the Bengals for big yards including Owen Daniels of the Texans in the postseason. The middle linebacker position is one place the team should target in the draft. As I said above, the Bengals have had a history on taking chances with players and I think they should look into taking a chance on former Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o. After a great season on the field, Te’o and the Fighting Irish were embarrassed on national TV during the BCS Championship Game by Alabama, where many people questioned Te’o’s true ability. Yet Te’o did finish with ten tackles and you can’t blame the loss on him entirely. The entire Notre Dame team didn’t show up plus they were playing Alabama, who has won three of the last four National Championships. I didn’t think Notre Dame deserved to be in the title game in the first place and they showed exactly why, and thankfully the NCAA has taken measures to start up a playoff system in 2014.

After a great statistical season and finishing second in the Heisman race, Te’o seemed to have high stock in the draft. But after a very strange scandal dealing with his fake girlfriend and him getting catfished, Te’o has seen his likeability and credibility drop. He went from being one of the most loved players in America to being one of the most hated in a matter of mere moments and I feel for the kid. I’m not going to say that I know what happened but I believe he was victim of a terrible prank that went terribly wrong. Being said, I don’t think that Te’o and his football career should take a hit just because he was a little too trusting and let his stupidity get in the way of his emotions. He still is a good football player and his off-the-field issue should be looked at as second rate to his actual skills. The Bengals drafted middle linebacker Rey Maualuga in 2009 out of USC in hopes of him being their linebacker for the future. Maualuga has been decent but decent isn’t enough for the Bengals this year. Both Te’o and Maualuga had similar college careers statistically with Te’o edging Maualuga by a slight margin. The Bengals like the type of player Maualuga is and Te’o is a very similar type player to him, only better. Te’o would not only bring his skills to the Bengals but also his leadership. You don’t lead a team to a National Championship Game without some leadership qualities. Here is a look at the final colligate statistics for both players:

Manti Te’o:

437 total tackles

34.0 tackles for loss

8.5 Sacks

7 Interceptions

Rey Maualuga:

273 total tackles

22.5 tackles for loss

9.0 Sacks

5 Interceptions

1 Interception returns for TD

The Bengals should take a risk and select Manti Te’o with their 21^st overall pick in the upcoming draft, assuming he is available then. He would be a great addition to an already-good defense and I believe he is worth the risk. In the case that he didn’t pan out as a player in the NFL then at least the Bengals took a risk and selected him. The alternative is not good for them. What would happen if they miss out on him and the championship game and the odd scandal were minor bumps in his career and he turns out to be a great player. It’s a higher reward than risk for the Bengals who are used to taking chances. It may not be the “sexy” pick at this time but I believe in a few years if the Bengals were to take him, they wouldn’t regret it. For now all we can do is wait and see if Manti gets his name called in the draft and hopefully for the Bengals sake, they do it before some other team does.

What do you think? Is Manti Te’o even a first rounder in your mind? Give us your thoughts below.

Manti couldn’t help but hold his breath after last Monday’s blowout defeat in BCS Title to Alabama. By Shotgun Spratling/Neon Tommy [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Alabama blew-out Notre Dame 42-14 in last Monday’s BCS National Championship Game, ending a miraculous season for the Irish. That kind of ending was definitely not what star linebacker, Manti T’eo had hoped for.

But it was the kind of ending to a year my friend Tommy hoped for.

As much as a championship for his beloved alma mater would have meant to him, Tommy and his dad took on a challenge the last year I pray none of us will ever have to face: Cancer.

And they won.

Larry, the man with the perfect curve ball, lover and knower of all things baseball, for a year made due with a questionable future. Despite losing weight, his appetite, and his stoicism he remained a steadfast family man amidst great turmoil.

Notre Dame’s ascension back into a football elite, was more than a metaphor, it was a sign.

“The journey of the Irish this season helped us put a lot of bad stuff behind us – bad Notre dame teams of the past decade and a tough year for the family,” said Tommy after Monday’s defeat.”My whole life my pops has always been “into” at least one thing I’ve been into as well. Baseball cards, baseball, and even collecting pint glasses at a certain point. But more than anything else, we have shared our love for Notre Dame.”

Most Irish fans with that kind of fansmanship must have woken up with a wicked metaphorical (and perhaps real) hangover on Tuesday. But for Tommy, not the case.

For Tommy and Larry, the National Championship Game meant more than Notre Dame vs. Alabama.

Tommy, did the incredible thing, taking his father on a four day excursion to Miami to see the game in-person. It was a trip that moved me to tears, considering the way this year has gone and knowing the family. The last I knew they had traveled together just as father and son, came in the Summer of 1996, when the two lovers of America’s greatest past time, boarded a train and went to as many baseball games as they could in three weeks.

Quietly, and in classic Larry fashion, the hardworking former CHP officer, desired more than anything that his son attend a school like Notre Dame after high school.

“As I found out well after I started going to [Notre Dame], my mom told me that when I was born he told her that one day his son would go to Notre Dame. She thought it was a bit odd because he wasn’t a big Notre Dame fan, so she sort if shrugged it off thinking he was being weird like he sometimes is. And when it came time to apply to college, he didn’t say a word. But he was apparently overjoyed that I chose to go there. Call it Notre Dame magic, but that’s how it happened. Anyway, the game was not just a fun trip, but a way for us to keep connecting on a shared passion and also a way to unofficially celebrate overcoming the past year,” said Tommy.

As unofficial as the celebration was, I’m certain for Larry it meant the world. 2013 rang in renewed health, and an elongation of life that can now be spent with his son, daughter and his beloved wife Nancy– a longtime teacher.

Despite his alma mater’s defeat, Tommy sees the brighter side of things.

“The ironic big is that my dad’s recovery essentially coincided with the season,”said Tommy. “When we went to the game, tailgated, and soaked it all in, I think we both got a little teary when we got to our seats, saw the field, hugged and said that we loved each other.  We were happy to be there, both because the team went undefeated and because he COULD be there. And the team really being back to prominence with coach and program that is just beginning is much like my dad. He got a new lease on life and this is just the start of our new relationship as a dad and his adult son. Not dad and his kid, or his teenager, or his young adult son. It’s something new that we still need to figure out but it’s really fun. Coming home with a win would have been incredible, but just being there with my dad was 99 percent of it. Just like Notre Dame making the National Championship Game was 99 percent of the joy.”

Which is more than true.  1 percent of anything is the actual outcome, the 99 percent the steps it took to get there. For Tommy and Larry the steps to get here now, today, still alive, was an arduous one, a task prayed and fought for with sweat and tears, and a little Irish luck.