The Cincinnati Bengals released on Monday running back Quincy Wilson, one of the various members of the team who was arrested in the past.

But the media (most notably, the Associated Press) is unfairly implying that the move is the result of a sudden get-tough approach by the Bengals to players who have been in trouble with the law.   

The truth is that he previously had been cut by the Bengals on September, and was re-signed on December 26, four days before the 2007 regular-season finale. 

That said, it’s possible that Wilson might have run his mouth after his teammate at West Virginia, Chris Henry, was released last week following his fifth arrest since entering the league in 2005.  Since the team is merely engaging at this time in voluntary offseason workouts, there would be no apparent football reason to cut Quincy loose.

Wilson was a seventh-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons in 2004.  He’s best known for this classic catch-and-run from 2003, when he ran through, over, and around a defense that included three future first-rounders — Vince Wilfork, Sean Taylor, and Brandon Meriweather. 

 

The game also featured plenty of jawing (and more) between future first-rounders Pacman Jones and Kellen Winslow.

 

But Winslow had the last laugh; his incredible catch on fourth down fueled the late comeback by the Hurricanes.