Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard has a personal accomplishment he’d like to hit this season, and he thinks he’s better-prepared to do it than ever before.
But that personal accomplishment — double-digit sacks — takes a backseat to what he wants the Bengals to do as a team.
“My main goal and only goal is to win the Super Bowl,” Hubbard said, via Bengals.com. “This is the best I’ve felt in my whole career by a landslide physically.”
In five seasons with the Bengals, Hubbard’s career best is 8.5 sacks in 2019. Counting the playoffs, he had 10.5 sacks in 2021. But he wants to reach 10 sacks in the regular season, something he’s never done before.
“I got double-digits in ’21 including playoffs, but I want regular-season double-digits,” Hubbard said. “I’ve been close. Last year I was on pace before I tore my calf.”
Healthier now than he’s ever been after an offseason of work, Hubbard hopes this is his year, and his team’s year as well.
Cincinnati’s former longtime punter is calling it a career.
Kevin Huber announced his retirement on Friday morning.
A fifth-round pick out of Cincinnati in the 2009 draft, Huber played his entire career for the Bengals. He held down the team’s punting job from his first week as a rookie until midway through last season. With Huber’s performance dipping, the club replaced Huber with Drue Chrisman.
Huber averaged 43.2 yards per punt and 37.4 net yards in Cincinnati’s first nine games. Chrisman averaged 47.8 yards per punt and 42.6 net yards in the Bengals’ last seven games.
Huber was released in early December but signed with the team’s practice squad.
“April 26, 2009, I received a call that would forever change my life,” Huber said in a statement posted on social media. “From just a Cincinnati kid watching my Bengals at Riverfront Stadium to being drafted as their punter is something dreams are made of . The past 14 years have been beyond my imagination and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of the Bengals organization.
“To my teammates, coaches, front office and staff, I can’t thank you enough for your support and dedication throughout my career. It has been a privilege to learn from and work with every one of you. And to all Bengals fans, your grit and unwavering enthusiasm for our team and city is second to none. I may be signing off as #10, but you better believe I’ll be in the jungle chanting ‘Who Dey’ alongside you all.”
In 216 games with Cincinnati, Huber averaged 45.3 yards per punt and 40.2 net yards. He landed 34.2 percent of his punts inside the 20-yard line.
The NFL’s gambling policy contains a specific term regarding the acceptance of hospitality or gifts by “NFL personnel” from “Gambling Entities.” The language of the provision, like the rest of the policy, reads as if it was written by a lawyer, for a lawyer.
It’s not clear where the line is. Which, obviously, becomes useful information for those players and other non-lawyers employed by the league and its teams who are expected to stay on the right side of it.
For Tuesday’s swanky, extravagant, and exclusive party held by Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin , the league won’t officially say which side of the line the party falls on. The league declined our request for comment on the matter.
Unofficially, a source with knowledge of the league’s position on the matter said there is no violation for NFL personnel who attended. Per the source, it was a private party that Rubin has hosted for several years with no promotion of Fanatics or any of its businesses.
That’s fine, but that’s not what the policy says. “NFL Personnel may not accept a complimentary room, service, or other gift from a Gambling Entity if its value exceeds Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250),” the policy states. “Any items accepted (other than de minimis food & beverages generally offered to all patrons) must be appropriately documented and verifiable upon request. Soliciting gifts of any value is never permissible.”
The loophole apparently comes from the term “Gambling Entity.” The policy defines “Gambling Entity” as a “casino, sportsbook, or other establishment or business that offers commercial gambling.”
Assuming that Rubin paid for the party himself and not with Fanatics money, any other sports book CEO or executive could do the same thing, without the policy ever being relevant. Expensive food. Expensive drinks. Expensive entertainment. Maybe a nice little swag bag with far more than $250 worth of stuff in it.
As long as it’s all hosted by the person who runs the sports book and not the sports book, it’s apparently fine.
Obviously, the spirit of the provision could be easily violated, if this loophole is something other than a make-it-up-as-they-go reaction to something that looks and feels like a violation of the policy. As long as the gambling entity isn’t mentioned or promoted, the owner or operator of the gambling entity can give NFL personnel anything and everything. Surely, that’s not the outcome the league intends.
The situation becomes thornier when considering the very real possibility that Fanatics footed the bill for the party, with the whole thing being a write-off. How would the NFL ever prove that? Would the NFL even be inclined to try?
If only players were present at the party, maybe the league would consider it. The fact that Patriots owner Robert Kraft was among the attendees makes it far less likely that the league would ever do anything about it.
And that’s quite possibly the bottom line here. Rubin’s party wasn’t a potential problem until his company launched a sports book. Someone at 345 Park Avenue might had an “oh shit” moment when considering the application of the relevant portion of the policy to the party. If only players were there, maybe they would hammer them. With an owner there, maybe they came up with a way to quietly look the other way.
Meanwhile, the policy is on the books as written, and no one is in any better position to understand how to avoid violating it.
That’s ultimately what we were trying to do. It’s how we explained it to the league. Lots of people in the league read PFT regularly, if not religiously. This would be a great way to help them understand what the policy means regarding hospitality and gifts.
Instead, you’re on your own, players. Proceed at your own risk.
Former NFL running back Corey Dillon has been out of sight for a while. He’s back. In a big way.
Dillon recently uncorked an epic rant while talking to Paul Dehner Jr. of TheAthletic.com. The full interview is worth your time. Some of the highlights appear below.
And make no mistake about whether Dillion was actually off the record. As he said to Dehner, “Man, you can quote me word-for-fucking-word. Print it. Because nobody gets this shit. I want it exactly how I told you. No spins. No nothing.”
Dillon has two primary complaints, and a third one that is looming.
First, he thinks he should be in the Bengals’ Ring of Honor, a distinction that is voted on by season-ticket holders.
“It’s damn-near criminal, what [voters] are pulling off, to be honest with you,” Dillon said. “Did I not play for them? I don’t know, bro. I’m curious about that. Because it looks like they are glossing over me. For what reason? Because I left? That’s not a good enough reason. You are telling me there’s five other guys better than me — at my position? And trust me, this is no knock on whoever is getting in, who goes in, that’s not what it is about. It’s about what is your excuse going to be? I’m pretty sure they will put fucking Jon Kitna in there before they put me. Matter of fact, Scott Mitchell will end up in that motherfucker before I do.”
The problem is, as Dillon explains with such eloquence, the team’s decision to let the fans decide.
“And that’s garbage,” he said. “That’s garbage. This should be solely predicated on the authorities of the Bengals. The owner. The president. Whatever. There should be a special committee. This ain’t a popularity contest. This is football. You are going to put in somebody who is more popular than somebody who got stats?”
Dillon has the stats. He started his career by rushing for more than 1,100 yards in six straight seasons. He rushed for 8,061 yards in seven seasons with the Bengals.
He also has 11,241 for his career. More than, for example, Hall of Famers O.J. Simpson, Earl Campbell, and Larry Csonka. Dillon therefore wants consideration for Canton.
“I want it all,” Dillon told Dehner. “I am coming for it all. You know why? Because I earned it. I’m not one of these borderline guys sitting on my ass reminiscing, talking about, ‘Oh, if I had this, shoulda, coulda, woulda.’ No. I’m justified.”
Dillon thinks off-field incidents have affected him. He had two arrests in 2010, four years after his career ended. One was for DUI and one was for spousal abuse. (The DUI was reduced to reckless driving, and the assault charge was dropped due to lack of evidence.) In 2000, he was charged with fourth-degree assault of his wife, entering a diversion program and making a donation to a women’s shelter. He believes those things should not impact his candidacy for career honors, if they are.
“That’s why I resurfaced, man,” Dillon said. “Because there has been a lot of wrong that needs to be un-wronged. Nobody gets this. I don’t want to get into people’s personal business, but there are a lot of Hall of Famers that did far more worse shit than I did. We can cancel out that excuse. There is no excuse for that. On top of that, I thought the game was predicated on numbers. Are people looking at the numbers like, ‘Nah, nah’? I don’t think so.”
Dillon thinks Bengals fans are still upset with him because: (1) he was outspoken during his career (he once said he’d rather be “flipping burgers” than to accept the team’s restricted free agency tender); and (2) he left Cincinnati and won a championship.
That he did, in 2004. With a career-high 1,635 rushing yards for a dominant Patriots team. It’s still the franchise’s single-season record. And that has Dillon thinking he should have a spot in the Patriots’ Hall of Fame, too.
“Don’t make this a Cincinnati thing, because I’m about to get on the Pats’ ass, too,” he told Dehner. “It’s coming. I’m coming for it all. Give it to me while I’m breathing. If anybody wants to disagree, just go look at the fucking numbers and have a Coke and a smile.”
Dillon’s name rarely comes up in reference to his career accomplishments. When it comes to the great tailbacks of the 21st Century, he’s typically forgotten when names like Adrian Peterson, LaDainian Tomlinson, Shaun Alexander, Frank Gore, LeSean McCoy, Steven Jackson, Clinton Portis, Chris Johnson, Matt Forte, Priest Holmes, Jamal Lewis, and Marshawn Lynch are mentioned.
The truth is that Dillon has more rushing yards than all but four of those other running backs.
Ever year, Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin hosts an exclusive July 4 party at his $50 million house in the Hamptons. This year, the party comes as he’s trying to grow the company into a major sports book operation — and as unprecedented attention is being paid to the NFL’s gambling policy.
Present at the event, based on the video Rubin posted on his Twitter page , were (to name a few) Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Ravens receiver Odell Beckham Jr., and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud. Raiders receiver Davante Adams posted a photo of himself and Burrow on Instagram. Patriots owner Robert Kraft was there.
Given Rubin’s sports-betting aspirations, and in light of the rash of suspensions imposed recently by the league on players for violating the gambling policy, there’s at least a question to be asked about whether and to what extent accepting extravagant hospitality from the CEO of a sports book company crosses the line.
Section 5 of the NFL’s gambling policy seems to apply generally to situations like this. “NFL Personnel may not accept a complimentary room, service, or other gift from a Gambling Entity if its value exceeds Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250),” the policy states. “Any items accepted (other than de minimis food & beverages generally offered to all patrons) must be appropriately documented and verifiable upon request. Soliciting gifts of any value is never permissible.”
Nothing about that party appeared to be de minimis. It was big, it was exclusive, and it was lavish. And it was paid for by the CEO of a sports book company.
One argument could be that it wasn’t a Fanatics event, that it was Rubin’s private affair. That could be a distinction without a difference. Fanatics is Rubin, and Rubin is Fanatics. Also, if Fanatics footed the bill (and I’d be surprised if it didn’t), that argument collapses.
These are important distinctions that players will need to keep in mind, if they even know where the line resides. At what point does accepting an invitation from the CEO of a sports book become a violation of the gambling policy? And how thoroughly and completely is the league explaining to players and other NFL personnel what they can and can’t accept?
With so much about the gambling policy unclear and untested, it’s important for everyone to know where the potential traps are lurking. Just ask the guys who have been suspended for legally and properly betting on other sports in the wrong place.