Jim Owczarski

jowczarski@enquirer.com

BOCA RATON, Florida – Reclining on a pastel blue sofa in the sitting area of his room near top of the Boca Raton Resort and Club, Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown spoke at length about many of the topics that have surrounded the league, and his team, over the last year.

On extending the contract of head coach Marvin Lewis beyond 2016

"It’s a process. We seem to go through our own dance. But I commend Marvin’s achievements. He’s done remarkably well with our football team here, in recent years especially. I respect him. I like him personally. He’s going to be our coach this year. That’s in the bank. Where it goes, we’ll see how it plays out."

On the Bengalas not being interested in trading backup quarterback AJ McCarron

"Every football player is for sale is the right offer comes along. That’s the nature of the business. Do I see something happening right now? I don’t. ‘Never’ is a word you want to be careful about."

On if 2015 was 'the year' before Andy Dalton’s injury

"When Andy got hurt that was about the biggest single adverse thing that could happen to us. I said to my brother Pete, there goes our shot. I thought we rebounded well from that. I was pleased with how McCarron did. I was pleased with how the team reacted. It just went on. It didn’t resign itself. I thought our team gave a good effort. We made a real run at it. We seemed to be on track to keep on going when things happened in the final game. It was a good season. We didn’t win the Super Bowl. But I was very pleased with how our guys did overall."

On if after-the-fact rulings following the playoff loss (like the NFL saying Martavis Bryant's touchdown should not have been a catch, Joey Porter's fine, Ryan Shazier's now-illegal hit) just adds salt to the wound

"I am basically conservative. I don’t look for perfection in life. I don’t look for perfection in officiating. They make judgments. And sometimes they even don’t clean it up upon further review. I don’t like it. Sometimes it impacts me to the point where my emotions are aroused. But I get over it. And I do accept it. It’s a football game. It takes three hours to play. All sorts of stuff happens. That’s what makes it interesting in part. There are unexpected things that happen in football games, almost every one – I’ll re-state that – in every one. That’s part of the excitement involved with the game.”

On linebacker Vontaze Burfict

“I think he’s a really outstanding player. He plays with intensity. I would suggest that some of the teams that complain about him from time to time would pick him up the minute we put him on waivers. I see some of what has been administered to him and us as severe. But on the other hand, he has stepped over the line on occasions and he can’t and he knows that. He’s going to have to adhere to a tighter standard.

On whether Europe is the next stop for NFL expansion now that the Rams are in Los Angeles

"The NFL has had this amazing growth that we’re all aware of and I think it’s going to continue. One of the areas of growth that is open to us, and you brought up the subject, to what degree can we take the game international? We play American football here in America. They don’t play it in London, they don’t play it in Beijing. Will it be accepted there?

"So far it seems to have been accepted in London when we go there. We have done more than just a simple one-time sample. We’ve gone there year after year after year and they sell out those games bang, like that. The TV audiences are growing almost annually.

"It is going to be interesting to see what happens. I think it is going to happen. I don’t know when and I don’t really know how. But do I think there will be an NFL team in London some day? I think there will be and my hunch is that it will be sooner than most people think."