Cleared of charges, Bills’ McIntyre gets to return to obscurity

By Anthony Bialy  |   Friday, June 12, 2009  |  Comments( 121 )

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Unfortunately, that’s as famous as Corey McIntyre will ever get. Florida police have dropped a misdemeanor charge against the Buffalo Bills fullback, which means he can return to faceless grunt work. Even the most ardent football fans outside of the Bills’ circle wouldn’t have recognized his name before he was arrested, and hopefully he’ll again fall off the radar now that he’s been declared innocent. The stress of this week’s mandatory practices was likely a relative delight.

The alleged victim’s story was about as sturdy as the XFL, and collapsed accordingly. That’s incomplete consolation even though he’s free: A victim of mistaken identification, McIntyre was just bicycling in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Even worse, McIntyre’s arrest came during a spell where the Bills were in danger of inching toward Cincinnati Bengals territory. The fullback obviously didn’t deserve to be lumped in with the wayward group of teammates that faced, or is facing, legal woes. It’s entirely different than the cases of Donte Whitner and Marshawn Lynch, where at best each player put himself in a bad situation. McIntyre, though, wasn’t part of any situation.

With the great news of his exoneration in mind, McIntyre can look with optimism upon a comparatively minor piece of good news, namely how he’s found a stable football job. The West Virginia product has been given the benefit of an entire offseason to practice and learn. It’s a far better scenario than being expected to step in to action between the fourth and fifth games as he did last year.

He might even get to touch the football more than twice in 2009. With the Bills contemplating using a no-huddle offense, McIntyre may get stuck on the field for numerous consecutive plays. That could lead to rushing or receiving opportunities in addition to his typical blocking responsibilities. With the offense forced to get creative without changing personnel, McIntyre could prosper.

It would be a unique experience: He hasn’t made a rushing attempt over his four NFL seasons, and caught two of his three career passes last season. Presumably, that’s not going to change entirely even with a new offensive wrinkle.

His primary tasks will still be providing a buffer to Trent Edwards and smashing holes through walls for his ball-carrying backfield mates. Thankfully, he’s getting ample chances to gel with the offense; he can work toward his football future while leaving unfair smears to his reputation in the past.

Sadly, it’s hard to undo damage to status. That’s true if it was caused not just by speculation but even by mere reports of the charges. Those who honestly weren’t sure whether the accusations had merit were left reading news accounts and wondering about their veracity; that valid uncertainty sadly hurt the perception of McIntyre. But at least it’s now over.

This has of course been a totally unfair incident for him to endure, and hopefully the news of his clearing will spread quickly and widely. Thankfully, people will eventually forget McIntyre’s fallacious connection with the supposed crime. He can finally go back to being anonymous, which is what any decent fullback wants.
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