Reported by: Scott Unes
Photographer: Tyson Thorp
Web produced by: Megan Wasmund
Bengals fans are reacting to the team's release of running back Rudi Johnson and four-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman Willie Anderson.
The reaction from Bengals fans who spoke to 9News has been mixed. Some fans say they're disappointed at seeing two of the team's mainstays let go. Others say they understand that the business of winning games in the NFL is just that: business.
There was some anger at letting a combined 19 years and 260 games played by Johnson and Anderson in a Bengals uniform go Saturday.
"To cut Rudi Johnson, that's...that's crazy," said Bengals fan J.C. Gulley, who spoke with 9News outside the Bengals Pro Shop at Paul Brown Stadium.
There was also understanding from some fans, who felt the decision was based on the players' most recent performance.
"In a way I was mad, but in a way, it made sense," said Adam Wilson, a Bengals fan from Terrace Park.
Jim Dixon, a fan who spoke to 9News outside a downtown sports bar, felt the moves were just part of the business of the NFL, and fans would have to deal with it. "I think it's going to hurt Cincinnati more than it's going to hurt the Bengals," Dixon says.
Seventh-year running back Johnson had recently been such a big part of the Bengals' resurgence. For two straight years he broke the team's all-time single season rushing mark, in 2004 and 2005. He had also been one of the most durable backs in team history, leading the league in carries from 2004 to 2006, and posting three of the busiest four seasons in team history for Bengals ball carriers.
Last year, hamstring problems held him to just 497 yards, and those injuries lingered into the 2008 pre-season.
His replacement is slated to be Chris Perry, whose spent parts of four of his five NFL season's injured.
Still, some fans see this as a move toward youth, inserting the younger Perry for the older Johnson.
"He came out of college as an 'old' senior, a redshirt," said fan Adam Wilson of Johnson's collegiate career at Auburn. " And Chris Perry, Chris Perry is younger, he's...I have confidence in Chris Perry."
Right tackle Willie Anderson had missed only two games in an eleven year span, until injuries limited him last year. He had been named to the Pro Bowl four straight seasons before his injury-plagued 2007.
Some fans say, it's hard to say good-bye to long-time players like Anderson, and one-time Franchise Player Johnson.
"Yeah, it's hard to watch them go," said Gulley. "It makes you wonder what's going on in the front office."
Other fans say they're ready for more wins on Sundays, and trust the team to find the right players to do that.
"Everybody's gotta go out there and they gotta do their jobs," said Dixon. "And if you can't do your jobs, you gotta put somebody there that can do it, I mean, regardless of how it's going to impact the fans or whatever."
