Odell Thurman

[levittator31]

Dumb question, I'm sure, but when is he coming back from suspension? I thought it was only a year. Why doesn't nfl.com have him on our depth chart or roster? Did we cut him? If we did, why on earth would we do that? Why would we cut him but not Chris Henry?

[sammyj1404]

we didn't cut him. he was suspended for 1 year and i believe all he has to do now is get reinstated with the NFL (i guess he has to prove to the NFL and Marvin that he has changed). but i'm still waiting to hear whats going on with him

• Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman, who was suspended by the league last season for off-field problems, can apply for reinstatement on June 11. The word I hear from Bengals sources is that Thurman is doing everything the right way in trying to get back to the league. The Bengals are not giving up on him and still feel he is a good, but troubled, man. "The kid has made mistakes," one Bengals source said. "But he's done everything the right way since he was suspended. We hope to have him back." Thurman is a good player when he's on the field who would help the Bengals immensely. The release of veteran linebacker Brian Simmons on Wednesday night is an indication that the Bengals believe Thurman is on his way back.

[sammyj1404]

good news, i think...

If middle linebacker Odell Thurman is reinstated next month by the NFL, he’ll get a chance to win a roster spot at Georgetown College during Bengals training camp.

So says Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, who blew off every imaginable question about Thurman since October. Until he decided to give it up to WLW-AM Sports Talk host Paul Daugherty Monday night.

Reached after the show, Daugherty paraphrased what Lewis told him and said that if Thurman got reinstated Lewis would let him come to training camp.

Thurman, suspended a year for repeated violations of the NFL’s substance abuse policy, is eligible to return to the club July 11.

Word is that Thurman has already applied for reinstatement and that he has been recommended for reinstatement by those in charge of the NFL’s rehab program, but he must remain clean until July 11.

Although Lewis invoked a Thurman public blackout, he and some members of his coaching staff have apparently visited him during his rehab to offer encouragement behind the scenes.

Now maybe Bengals fans can start dreaming about a linebacker corps with both Thurman, a leading Rookie of the Year candidate in 2005, and Ahmad Brooks, a player who would have been selected in the first round last month if he hadn’t come out early and been taken in the third round of last July’s supplemental draft.

In fact, the drafting of Brooks came the same day that Thurman’s four-game suspension became public. It went to a year when Thurman was arrested for DUI Sept. 25, and Lewis ordered his locker cleared out the next day even before the NFL made it official.

Since that day Lewis has refused to answer any questions about Thurman’s 2007 status until Daugherty uttered the magic words in his appearance Monday night.

[sammyj1404]

ok, so its july 10th and odell could be reinstated possibly tomorrow. any thoughts or insider news??