Terence Newman, excellent golfer, has one round left in him before his first practice as a Bengal on Tuesday when the voluntary practices begin. Look for Newman and another free-agent pickup, Jason Allen, to play the bulk of the snaps in place of the rehabbing Leon Hall.
Newman is one of the celebrities in Sunday's Marvin Lewis Golf Classic at Shaker Run Golf Club and during Saturday night's downtown pre-party at Cincy's On Sixth he let it be known he thinks the Bengals have a shot at winning some big holes.
"This is a very good football team," said Newman, who has now been around the club for a month during the conditioning. "As an older player—and Nate (Clements) is probably saying the same thing—you want to win it all it before your career is over and if we can get this team to a first playoff win, to a second playoff win, and win the Super Bowl at some point, then we've done our job.
"There's a lot of talent here. It takes more than talent to win a championship and they have that here. They've got a cohesive locker room. It's a great group of guys. There's a lot of cohesion and that's an important thing."
That's a big reason Newman is here. Besides the fact that his NFL mentor, Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, believes he's got enough left to provide a big season at cornerback, he's great in the room, as they say. Like Clements, a fellow first-round corner with Allen and Hall, Newman, who turns 34 early in the season, offers well-grounded stability on and off the field.
As the latest first-round corner, Dre Kirkpatrick, has been finding out in his early sessions with Newman.
"I never met a rookie that didn't come in eager to learn. He's going to fit into the mold of the rest of the corners I've known that have come in and learned from the older guys," Newman said.
No question, he's been impressed of the 6-2 Kirkpatrick.
"When he's sitting down and stands up, it's like 'Wow.' I didn't know he was that tall," Newman said. "He's got quicks. He's got good feet. I think he'll be a great corner in this league for a long time."
PETE HEARS BOOM: Pete Johnson, the big back from the first Bengals Super Bowl team, took a break from working all week in his Columbus, Ohio backyard, and also checked in Saturday night before planning to golf Sunday. He predicts great things very quickly for his fellow Ohio State running back, rookie Daniel "Boom" Herron.
"I guarantee you he'll be starting by the first game," Johnson said. "He's a great player if they give him the chance. He can run the ball. He runs low. And he can catch the ball out of the backfield and we didn't do that enough at Ohio State. He's got a great sense of his surroundings and that's what a great running back needs."
Johnson, a second-round pick 35 years before the Bengals took Herron in the sixth round, knows what catching the ball can do for an offense. He was the third-leading receiver for the 1981 AFC champs with 46 catches and four receiving touchdowns.
