Dhani Jones has more renaissance man in his goattee than Danny Devito has in his whole bowling ball of a body. Jones, who I assume will be starting at middle linebacker for the Bengals in 2008, is not at all sated by the rigors of an NFL life. He is a man ahead of his time.
Dhani burst onto the Cincinnati landscape last year while a decimated linebacking corp moaned and groaned in the Bengals understaffed infirmary. It took him about two seconds to become our most reliable linebacker (I'm not saying he was the best because that would imply someone was good at LB last year). And by the end of the year he was the leader of our beleagured defense.
As he gained more and more playing time, people around town started to notice that he wasn't one of the usual suspects. The thing that piqued my interest about him was hearing he rode a bicycle around town. While it was peculiar and amusing last year, it seems more and more that Dhani is just well versed on economics and carbon footprints.
He isn't just a scholar athlete though, he is also a Bengal (i.e. Rap Sheet). In 2006 he was arrested outside a Miami nightclub for serving a whole crew of Cubano Salsa Crushers. The Police later said they took him in to protect him from the embarassed and desperate-to-regain-their-turf locals.
Although dancing in the street is about as misdemeanor as it gets. His crime against humanity is not offering an Orange and Black Bowtie in his sleek and stylish line of neckware. Fashion Designing has been a calling of his since him and Donatello Versace had a dance off on a NYC subway car. They eventually became friends and picked each others brains about style and aggression and how to harness your inner fire.
I'm just hoping he's ready to dance when the season starts.
Maybe Dhani can become a spokesperson for the streetcar plan given his enlightened views on transportation?
Posted by: Todd | July 16, 2008 at 12:03 PM
Maybe he and Jim Tarbell can form some sort of citizen vigilante/guys with bow ties on bikes group to protect downtown Cincinnati.
Posted by: DC | July 17, 2008 at 10:35 AM
He would but they don't see eye to eye on too many of Tarbell's initiatives.
Posted by: Paul Katz | July 17, 2008 at 11:32 AM
I'm sure they would get along fine. I can just see Dhani planting flowers in OTR. Although I agree, Dhani and Tarbell do have differences on transportation initiatives. Tarbell has really flip-floped on the bikes v. mopeds issue while Dhani has been steadfast in his support for bikes.
Posted by: DC | July 17, 2008 at 12:54 PM