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There was nothing Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis could do.
Star linebacker Takeo Spikes had made up his mind. He was kicking the Ohio mud off his spikes and leaving as a free agent.
The Bengals slapped the transition tag on him in the spring of 2003 in hope that it would deter other clubs from negotiating with him. But it might as well have been a piece of kite string for all the good it did in tethering the 6-foot-2, 242-pound Spikes to the club that selected him in the first round of the NFL draft five years earlier....more
Star linebacker Takeo Spikes had made up his mind. He was kicking the Ohio mud off his spikes and leaving as a free agent.
The Bengals slapped the transition tag on him in the spring of 2003 in hope that it would deter other clubs from negotiating with him. But it might as well have been a piece of kite string for all the good it did in tethering the 6-foot-2, 242-pound Spikes to the club that selected him in the first round of the NFL draft five years earlier....more
