Monday, September 06, 1999
Francis gets message: Too old
At 31, he was last of playoff team
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
James Francis
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James Francis left a decade with the Bengals Sunday, a victim of the annual youth movement he feels has hurt the team.
Francis, 31, the last link to the last Bengals playoff team, wished his mates well but feared for an offense without wide receiver Carl Pickens and a defense still searching for experience.
“We've always been too young and being too young is not good,” Francis said. “You've got to have a mix of some old heads, middle-aged guys and some young kids. You've got to let players grow together. You can't keep rotating, you can't keep changing if you have a bad year. It's hard to win with a bunch of young guys on the field. I don't care how much talent you have, football is more a mental thing.”
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FINAL CUTS
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Notables
James Francis, LB
Kevin Sargent, OT
Rod Payne, C
Others
Chad Pegues, NT
Terry Murphy, WR
Quincy Jackson, WR
Michael Basnight, RB
Ben Peterson, ILB-LS
Damian Vaughn, TE
Eddie Howard, P
Practice squad candidates
Pegues, Peterson, Basnight, Murphy, Vaughn.
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Francis, the club's starting left outside linebacker since he was the 12th pick in the 1990 draft, mirrored the decade he played in Cincinnati. He had seven sacks in his first seven games for those playoff Bengals, but leaves with just 33 and the tag of underachiever.
Yet Francis insisted Sunday he's better than his replacement, second-year man Steve Foley, and that the Bengals already had their minds made up when training camp started.
“They said the job was wide open, but the job was already given away,” Francis said. “All that was flack about whoever produced would make it. Put the film on. Is Foley faster than me? Yeah, but
that's not what it's all about. Right now I'm a better player ... I had to wait on the sidelines for a half before I played and never with the first team. But I don't hold any grudges. I wished them the best.”
Francis didn't play at all in Friday's exhibition finale, confirming Foley and third-year man Canute Curtis had made the club. The Bengals like Curtis' ability to play both outside and inside linebacker as well as special teams. Francis hasn't played on special teams in years.
“He'll play in this league,” said coach Bruce Coslet. “We felt we had a couple of younger guys just as good as he was, who had longer upside. It's based on production and the production at that position has to be better. (Foley) played 32 plays (Friday) and made five tackles. That's a pretty good hit ratio.”
In the hours after he was cut, Francis decided it was time for a change.
“The defense is as talented as any I've been on, but they're young and they can't be on the field all the time,” Francis said. “The offense has to get it going and it's going to be tough without Carl. Defenses are going to stack the line with eight, nine guys. But I wish them all the best.”
On Sunday, Francis ended his long feud with management over his off-season work habits. Ater signing his last contract at the end of the 1995 season, he hardly ever met the $250,000 workout bonus.
“Believe me, I work out or I'd be 350 pounds if I didn't,” Francis said. “I made some bad decisions. I never claimed to be a saint. But I never complained. I never bad-mouthed anybody. I played hurt. And I know I can still play this game. I'm not some 36-year-old guy.”
Francis heard he could still play for Cleveland and the Jets from league scuttlebutt, but he was trying to firm up offers before leaving Cincinnati today.
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