I wish I'd have waited a little longer over the weekend to note the character concerns of the Bengals first three draft picks. In the fourth round, they took a guy with no noted character concerns in the scouting report, so I figured that was the time.

Had I waited through the sixth round, I'd have had a criminal goldmine to add to the mix.

Bernard Scott, talented running back out of Abilene Christian, had been drafted by the police to wear a shiny pair of handcuffs five times before being drafted by the Bengals. That's the right, the young man had been arrested five times. He was the subject of a New York Times article back in November.

He did not play his senior season after being involved in an off-field fight. He has been arrested at least five times and is finishing 18 months of probation for giving false information to a police officer during a traffic stop. He is attending his fourth college since 2003.

And the following is from his Wikipedia entry:

Scott's NFL prospects are tarnished by his off-the-field issues. He was kicked off his high school team at Vernon because of an off-campus fight after his junior season. He also was dismissed from the Central Arkansas University team for hitting a coach, along with a few other issues. He's also been arrested for some traffic-related misdemeanors, and he's currently finishing out an 18-month probation for failing to identify himself during a traffic stop in Abilene in the spring of 2007.

I don't know what to say. On one hand, the young man says he's got his life turned around, that he's sorry for his mistakes, and that he's a better person these days. And I believe him. And I believe in second chances.

But does it always have to be the Bengals who are giving the second (or sixth) chance? I promise, we won't mind if every now and then you let some other team gamble on a guy with character issues. Marvin Lewis, you do not have to be the patron saint of wayward football players.

Gracias, FanHouse.