T.J. Houshmandzadeh has guaranteed victory.
But it says something about the Bengals’ 2008 fortunes that when Houshmandzadeh, the Bengals’ wide receiver, guarantees victory, he’s not guaranteeing it for any specific game — he’s just guaranteeing that at some point this season, the Bengals will win.
“If the season ends and we don’t win a game,” Houshmandzadeh said, per Adam Schefter of NFL Network. “I will walk from my house to the NFL Network studios.”
According to Schefter, Houshmandzadeh was referring to his house in Cerritos, California, 27 miles from the NFL Network studios in Culver City, and not his in-season home in Cincinnati. So that walk is doable, although he would have to do most of it along the 405 Freeway. (Of course, given the traffic on the 405, Houshmandzadeh could probably walk that trip faster than he could drive it.)
Houshmandzadeh also said that 0-16 hadn’t occurred to him.
“I never thought about if we will go 0-16,” he said. “It never crossed my mind until you said it and asked me the question.”
The Bengals are eight-point underdogs Sunday against the Jaguars and will likely be underdogs in each game until the season finale, at home against the Chiefs.