Seals seems finished He will not be in Bengals training camp Tuesday, July 14, 1998
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Ray Seals may not have lost weight, but he definitely has lost his desire to play football.
Seals, a defensive end who signed with Cincinnati as a free agent on April 15, has told the Bengals not to expect him when training camp opens at Georgetown (Ky.) College on July 23.
Though Bengals President and General Manager Mike Brown said Monday that Seals "announced his retirement," the 10-year veteran's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said that his client was "contemplating" quitting and had not made it official.
But even Rosenhaus said, "Ray kind of knew about a month ago he wasn't really charged up to play . . . I didn't think it would be fair to wait until the last minute to bring this to the Bengals' attention. It's doubtful at this point that Ray will play football this year." The Bengals were hoping that Seals, 33, could recapture some of the power he displayed in 1995, when he collected 8 1/2 sacks for the AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Cincinnati gave him a one-year, $325,000 contract with a $50,000 signing bonus.
But Seals, who last year with Carolina reportedly weighed 20 pounds more than his listed weight of 306, arrived at the Bengals' May minicamp in worse physical condition. The Bengals offered to send him to Duke University's weight-loss clinic to shed an estimated 40 pounds. However, Brown said, "We could never get any confirmation that he had shown up."
Said Rosenhaus, "I'm not sure where he stands with his weight right now."
Brown said the Bengals were counting on Seals "less and less as we went along." Free-agent acquisitions Michael Bankston and Clyde Simmons are the likely starters at end, backed up by veterans Ramondo Stallings, Jevon Langford and Andre Purvis. Rookie Glen Steele, a fourth-round draft choice, could make an impact, along with John Copeland, a starter since 1993 who might return in October from a torn Achilles tendon.
