And the Fat Lady Has Sung

After having players such as Chris Henry, Odell Thurman, Leon Hall, and A.J. Nicholson arrested or suspended (or both…and often multiple times), the Cincinnati Bengals decided to go and grab another troubled kid for their troubled franchise in the 2009 NFL Draft with the #6 pick…Andre Smith.

While he has not had trouble with the law, he has quite an impressive record of his own starting with being suspended from the 2009 Sugar Bowl as the offensive anchor for the University of Alabama. The Crimson Tide have never won a BCS Bowl Game and their most heralded player, Smith, reportedly dealt with an agent other than his own resulting in his suspension. The Tide would go on to lose to the Utah Mormans (I mean Utes). He then showed up out of shape (323 pounds), shirtless (please see above), and slow (5.28 40-yard dash) at the NFL Combine. To fix the horrible first impression that he made, he decided to leave the Combine early without telling anybody.

Through workouts and his Alabama Pro Day, Scouts then realized he was not a future Left Tackle (the premiere O-Line spot due to right-handed QBs), but a Right Tackle or maybe Guard because of his weight. Add all that up and the Bengals snagged him at #6.

After a lengthy holdout (the second to last player to sign), he inked a four-year deal for $26M, including $21M guaranteed. The Bengals also have a team option for two more years that would make the deal a six-year contract worth $42M with $29.5M guaranteed.

The Bengals…a stupid franchise with stupid players.

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Tags: 40, alabama crimson tide, andre smith, Cincinnati Bengals, combine, contract, draft, NFL, nfl draft, pro day, running fat