For those of you following the Chad Johnson rants this week about requesting to be traded and threatening to sit the year out if he is not, here are the Chad Johnson salary numbers broken down by Chick Ludwig.  As everyone knows, Chad Johnson is under contract with the Bengals until 2011.  The salary information below give Bengals fans a look at what Chad has been paid and what he is due to be paid.

I think it is interesting to see that the Giants have just pulled off a major upset to win the Super Bowl despite they are missing two star players that everyone for years always thought the Giants needed to make a run at the Super Bowl (Tiki Barber and Jeremy Shockey).  For those Bengals fans that have been keeping up on the Giants drive to the Super Bowl this week, there have been multiple sources quoted as saying that the reality of the situation was that these two supposed star players not being in the locker room really made all the difference for their team this season.  The team was actually able to pull together and become more of a team because two of their biggest head cases/drama kings/headaches were not in the mix.

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson feels betrayed by head coach Marvin Lewis and is privately threatening to sit out the 2008 season if he isn't traded, according to a source.  Johnson was upset after the coach quit speaking to his receiver early in the season, according to the source.

The Bengals star wideout has been making the rounds with the media at the Super Bowl. When asked on Jim Rome's radio show this week about whether or not he was happy with Bengals, Johnson sounded less than happy.

"I'm not allowed to say. I get the blame; the so-called best player, I'm the problem. Someone in-house is spreading this. Maybe they want me to quiet down [and] stop being me. That is not going to happen. I can't function that way. I tried it. It sucked. There was no excitement."

Lewis has said he won't trade Johnson, who finished with a single-season franchise-record 1,440 receiving yards. Johnson has had six consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards and is under contract with the Bengals through 2011 after signing a $35.5 million extension in April 2006.

The Bengals signed quarterback Jordan Palmer - starter Carson Palmer's younger brother - to a two-year contract on Wednesday.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, there have been no brother quarterback tandems to play on same team in the Super Bowl era.
Koy and Ty Detmer were members of the Philadelphia Eagles' squad in 1997, but Koy spent the season on the Injured Reserve list.

CINCINNATI BENGALS
BROTHER COMBINATIONS

1978-83 - TB Archie Griffin, CB Ray Griffin 1979-80 - DE Ross Browner, S Jim Browner
2008 - QB Carson Palmer, QB Jordan Palmer

NFL'S MOST RECENT
BROTHER COMBINATIONS
ON SAME TEAM

1997 - QB Ty Detmer, QB Koy Detmer (Eagles)*
2002 - WR Kevin Dyson, CB Andre Dyson (Titans)
2002 - WR Jake Reed, CB Dale Carter (Saints)#
2007 - LB Akin Ayodele, DT Remi Ayodele (Cowboys)
2008 - LB Chris Clemons, DL Nic Clemons (Redskins)
* Note: Koy Detmer spent season on Injured Reserve.
# Note: Reed and Carter are half brothers.

Quarterbacks Carson and Jordan Palmer will have an opportunity to make history in 2008.

If Jordan lands on the Bengals' 53-man active roster as a backup to Carson, the Palmers will become the first brother quarterback tandem to play on same team since the Super Bowl era began with the 1966 season.  The Bengals signed Jordan to a two-year contract on Wednesday. He'll compete with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Jeff Rowe for two roster spots behind Carson.

Texas-El Paso's career passing leader in yards (11,084) and TDs (88), Jordan was Washington's sixth-round pick in the 2007 draft. The Redskins waived him on Sept. 1.  "So much with a quarterback is mental," Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski said. "If he knows things well enough to where he can anticipate and get the ball out, he's certainly got enough arm talent to do it. The mental aspect will be the most challenging part from the beginning.  "(Fitzpatrick and Rowe) are a step ahead mentally. So it'll be up to him to catch up and show us, physically and mentally, that he's going to earn some of those practice snaps and preseason snaps as well."

The Bengals nearly drafted Jordan in 2007.  "Between Carson and his parents, they felt it probably wouldn't be a comfortable situation," Bratkowski said. "Now that he was out there and looking for a place to catch on, everybody's reassessed their feelings. He's going to be here and have an opportunity."

Linebacker Reggie Williams and defensive tackle Wilson Whitley were inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame at The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame annual awards dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City on Dec. 4.
Williams, a first-team All-America linebacker at Dartmouth College who spent 14 seasons with the Bengals (1976-89), recently retired as vice president of Disney Sports Attractions in Orlando, Fla., for health reasons.

"You play a game you love so much," Williams said. "Many people have asked me if it is worth it after 13 surgeries. I answer with a resounding yes, and football has been an avenue of so many dreams.   "I grew up in Michigan and was told by head coach Bo Schembechler that I wasn't good enough to play at Michigan. I was able to convert a great education at an Ivy League school into another opportunity that was converted into success in sports and life. You could not ask for anything more."

Whitley, a consensus All-America at the University of Houston, was inducted posthumously.  A first-round draft pick in 1977, Whitley spent six seasons with the Bengals (1977-82), playing nose tackle for the famed "WEB" defensive line that also featured left end Eddie Edwards and right end Ross Browner.  Whitley served as the national director of sports marketing with Holiday Inn, Inc., at the time of his death in 1992.

The question burning in most Bengals fans minds is can Odell Thurman have an impact on the team in 2008 if he is reinstated?  Well before we even get to that question the first real question fans should be asking themselves is can Odell Thurman even stay out of trouble long enough to make it to the field.

Please let’s not fall into the same trap like we did with Chris Henry that no player is dumb enough to get into trouble more than twice.  Mr. Henry has painfully made it clear to Bengals fans that this is just not the case.  As a matter of fact, he was able to double his "trouble production" and get hit up four times for his stupidity.

Next issue, two years is an eternity in the NFL unless you are Vinny Testaverde (the guy who will still be getting called up when he is 60).  Thurman has not played in the NFL in two years now.  The league is all about speed!  Until someone gives me a clear understanding of what this guy has been doing, I just can’t consider him to be a player.  I am assuming he has not been on the Troy Smith "Win the Heisman and Eat A Turkey a Day Diet".  This guy has been missing in action.  Until I hear from a reliable source that he is semi good shape, I would prefer not to even think about him coming back.

Now with all that being said, getting the ok to begin working out with the team is a good thing.  It gives the Bengals plenty of time to work out the Kinks and get him into decent shape.