Bengals' Loyalty Tenuous To Critical

I'll keep this short.

I'm a lifelong Cincinnati Bengals fan. I suffered through one of the worst strings of losing seasons (the Mike Brown age) of any professional franchise. Ever. We're talking 14 consecutive non-winning seasons.

Still I stuck by the franchise.

Now there's talk the Bengals may trade Chad Johnson.

Mark my words. If the Bengals trade Johnson, or Carson Palmer for that matter, any time in the next 12 months, I'm done with this franchise.

That's not a threat. No one in Cincinnati could care less whether I'm a Bengals, Colts, Titans or even Steelers' fan. Well, maybe some of the other lifelong Bengals fans I've met there would be disappointed, but no one else would care. And, it'd end 40 years of professional football desperation in my household. So, I think even those few remaining loyal to the Bengals would understand.

The problem's not the offense. We need defensive playmakers. But if we exchange Johnson for some second-string middle D-back, it's over. Any such trade would prove reminiscent of the Reds trading up and coming, daily playing Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez for some middle relievers no longer even on the team!

Maybe I could understand if we were able to draft someone like Howie Long's son. He's a single defensive player that changes a game's complexion, no doubt. In the past, however, the Bengals front office hasn't demonstrated equivalent vision.

That wasn't so short. Sorry.