49 Fun Facts About Cincinnati Bengals

Which Hall of Fame coach founded the Bengals and led them from the sideline for their first eight seasons?

Paul Brown had been fired by Cleveland in January 1963; he got back into the game by founding a rival team in the same state, and he ran it until his death in 1991.

The Bengals began play in 1968 as a member of which league?

The American Football League was a way in: its merger with the NFL had been agreed before Cincinnati was awarded a team in 1967, so the Bengals spent only two seasons there before the leagues combined.

The Bengals' first home, still used by the Cincinnati Bearcats, was which venue?

Nippert Stadium, the University of Cincinnati's ground, was a two-year stopgap while Riverfront Stadium was being built, and the 1968 Bengals won their first two home games there.

What replaced the word BENGALS on Cincinnati's helmets in 1981?

Tiger stripes arrived in the same season the Bengals reached their first Super Bowl, and the helmet has survived every uniform redesign since.

Which future television analyst spent his whole playing career, 1981 to 1988, catching passes for the Bengals?

Cris Collinsworth was a high-school quarterback and state sprint champion who switched to receiver in college; as a Bengals rookie in 1981 he became the team's first 1,000-yard receiver.

Where was Super Bowl XVI, the Bengals' first and the first in a cold-weather city, held?

The Pontiac Silverdome's roof kept out a Michigan January, and inside it the Bengals gained 356 yards to their opponents' 275 yet still lost, undone by four turnovers.

The Bengals' AFC title win in January 1982 is known by which nickname?

The Freezer Bowl kicked off at 9 below zero with a wind chill of −59°F, eleven degrees worse than the Ice Bowl's, though the thermometer itself read a few degrees warmer than at that Green Bay game.

Which Bengals quarterback was named NFL MVP in 1981 after playing college ball at tiny Augustana College?

Ken Anderson began that MVP season on the bench: pulled from the opener after two first-half interceptions and only 39 yards passing, he watched a third-stringer rally the Bengals to victory.

Which left-handed Bengals quarterback won the NFL MVP award in 1988?

Boomer Esiason's MVP year turned the Bengals around completely: 4–11 the season before, they went 12–4 and came within 34 seconds of winning the Super Bowl.

Which Bengals head coach made the no-huddle a full-time offense during the 1988 Super Bowl season?

Sam Wyche's no-huddle let his offence threaten to snap at any moment, so defences had no time to send on substitutes, and a beaten rival soon copied the idea.

Bengals rookie Elbert Woods scored 15 rushing touchdowns in 1988 and marked each one with which celebration?

The Ickey Shuffle had a short run: after 15 touchdowns as a rookie, Woods was hurt two games into the next season and managed only 12 more before injuries ended his career in 1991.

Jerry Rice was MVP of Super Bowl XXIII, but which 49ers receiver caught the winning touchdown with 34 seconds left?

John Taylor's winning touchdown was his only catch of the game; that season he had made his name as the NFL's leading punt returner rather than as a receiver.

Super Bowl XXIII, the Bengals' second Super Bowl, was played in January 1989 at which stadium?

Joe Robbie Stadium nearly saw a kicker named Super Bowl MVP: Jim Breech's three field goals had the Bengals ahead 16–13 until the final minute.

Which offensive tackle did the Bengals draft third overall from USC in 1980 and watch make 11 straight Pro Bowls?

Anthony Munoz had missed nearly all of his final college season with a knee injury, yet the Bengals still took him third overall and he started all 16 games as a rookie.

Which nickname mocked the Bengals during 14 straight seasons without a winning record?

The Bungles was the coinage of Pittsburgh broadcaster Myron Cope, and the results backed him up: the Bengals lost 13 games in four of those seasons and never finished better than 8–8.

Which Bengals cornerback intercepted 65 passes from 1969 to 1983 but reached the Hall of Fame only in 2023, after his death?

Ken Riley had been a college quarterback at Florida A&M before the Bengals moved him to cornerback, where he intercepted at least one pass in every one of his 15 seasons.

Corey Dillon's 278 rushing yards for the Bengals in 2000 broke whose 23-year-old NFL record?

Walter Payton had needed 40 carries for his 275 yards in 1977; Dillon passed him on just 22, but his own record lasted only three years before Jamal Lewis ran for 295.

Bengals back Corey Dillon ran for a then-record 278 yards against which team in 2000?

The Denver Broncos lost 31–21 even though Cincinnati completed just two passes all afternoon, and it was the Bengals' first regular-season win in their new stadium.

Which head coach, hired in 2003, led the Bengals for 16 seasons without a playoff win?

Marvin Lewis won 131 games, more than twice the club record he inherited, yet his seven playoff teams all lost their first game.

Bengals receiver Chad Johnson legally changed his surname in 2008 to what?

Ochocinco, his run-together Spanish for the eight and five on his jersey, lasted four years: he went back to Johnson in 2012, by which time he had caught 751 passes for the Bengals.

Chad Johnson and TJ Houshmandzadeh were teammates at which college before the Bengals drafted both?

Oregon State had the pair for one season, 2000; the Bengals then took Johnson in the second round and Houshmandzadeh in the seventh, and they stayed teammates for eight more years.

Which Cincinnati company bought the naming rights to the Bengals' stadium in 2022?

Paycor, a payroll-software firm based in the city, put its name on the stadium in August 2022, ending 22 seasons in which it had carried the name of the team's founder instead of a sponsor's.

What is the nickname of the Bengals' home stadium?

The Jungle comes with a ready-made anthem: the Bengals play Guns N' Roses' 'Welcome to the Jungle' before kickoff, and their 2021 slogan urged fans to 'Rule The Jungle'.

The Bengals' official mascot, a Bengal tiger, is named what?

Who Dey takes his name from the fans' chant, 'Who dey think gonna beat dem Bengals?', which took hold in the 1981 Super Bowl season; its origin is disputed, and one theory credits stadium beer vendors.

The Bengals' rivalry with the Cleveland Browns is often called what?

The Battle of Ohio began in 1970 with a 30–27 Cleveland win, but Cincinnati took the rematch during a seven-game winning run that carried it from 1–6 to the division title.

Which coach, hired by the Bengals in 2019, took them to Super Bowl LVI in his third season?

Zac Taylor was hired from the Rams, where he had coached quarterbacks under Sean McVay, and the Super Bowl he reached three years later was against McVay's Rams.

Joe Burrow won the 2019 Heisman Trophy playing for which university?

LSU got him as a graduate transfer after three years as an Ohio State backup; in his second season there he threw a record 60 touchdown passes and won the national title unbeaten.

With which pick of the 2020 NFL draft did the Bengals select Joe Burrow?

First overall was the Bengals' reward for the NFL's worst record in 2019, and it sent him home: Burrow grew up in Athens, Ohio, about two and a half hours from Cincinnati.

Joe Burrow attended high school in The Plains, Ohio, but he was born in which state?

Iowa came first: he was born in Ames, and the family later spent two years in Fargo, North Dakota, before his father's coaching career took them to Ohio University in 2005.

Which NFL honour did Joe Burrow win for both the 2021 and 2024 seasons?

Comeback Player of the Year came first after torn knee ligaments ended his rookie season, and again after a wrist injury ended his 2023; in between he took the Bengals to a Super Bowl.

Ja'Marr Chase won which college prize in 2019 as the nation's best receiver?

The Fred Biletnikoff Award followed a 2019 season of 1,780 yards and 20 touchdowns; Chase then sat out 2020 altogether and was still drafted fifth overall.

Ja'Marr Chase's 2024 receiving triple crown was the first since which receiver won it in 2021?

Cooper Kupp capped that triple-crown season by scoring the winning touchdown against the Bengals in Super Bowl LVI, where he was named MVP; Chase was a rookie on the losing side.

The Bengals' first playoff win in 31 years, in January 2022, came against which team?

The Las Vegas Raiders closed a circle: the 31 years without a playoff win had begun with a loss to the same franchise, then based in Los Angeles, in January 1991.

Which team did the Bengals beat in overtime, 27-24, in the 2021 AFC Championship Game?

The Kansas City Chiefs were beaten by a rookie's leg: Evan McPherson kicked four field goals, the last of them in overtime, and did not miss in 14 attempts across that postseason.

Super Bowl LVI, which the Bengals lost 23-20 to the Rams, was played at which venue?

SoFi Stadium is the Rams' own ground, yet the Bengals were the designated home team that day; only one team before the Rams had ever played a Super Bowl in its own stadium.

Which act performed at halftime of Super Bowl LVI, the Bengals' loss to the Rams?

Snoop Dogg shared the stage with Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar, and their set went on to win the Emmy for outstanding live variety special.

Which team lost the 1988 AFC Championship Game to the Bengals, then adopted their no-huddle offense as the 'K-Gun'?

The Buffalo Bills' coach Marv Levy had complained before the game that the no-huddle broke the rules; after losing 21–10 he took it up himself and rode it to four straight Super Bowls.

Which Bengals defensive end returned a fumble 98 yards for the winning touchdown against Baltimore in the January 2023 playoffs?

Sam Hubbard turned the game on one play: with the score 17–17, the Ravens' quarterback had the ball punched out as he stretched for the goal line, and Hubbard caught it and ran the length of the field.

As of 2025, the Bengals' only retired number is the 54 of Bob Johnson, who played which position?

Center Bob Johnson was the first player the Bengals ever drafted; they retired his number at his last game in 1978, then asked him back a year later as an emergency long snapper.

Which quarterback beat the Bengals in Super Bowls XVI and XXIII, winning MVP in the first?

Joe Montana began the winning 92-yard drive in XXIII by pointing out the actor John Candy in the crowd to a tense teammate, then completed eight of his nine passes.

Which team did the Bengals beat 27-7 in the 1981 AFC Championship Game to reach their first Super Bowl?

The San Diego Chargers had won an overtime epic in the Miami heat only a week earlier; in the Cincinnati cold they turned the ball over four times and scored just once.

The Bengals' left-handed 1988 MVP quarterback played his college football for which program?

Maryland's quarterback waited until the second round of the 1984 draft, when the Bengals took him 38th overall; four seasons later their bargain was the league's most valuable player.

Which running back, the top pick of the 1995 draft, tore a knee ligament in his first preseason game for the Bengals?

Ki-Jana Carter cost the Bengals two picks to move up from fifth to first; he missed his whole rookie season with the injury and never ran for 500 yards in a year afterwards.

Who devised the West Coast offense while a Bengals assistant coach from 1968 to 1975?

Bill Walsh left Cincinnati after the 1975 season and, in only his third year as an NFL head coach, won his first Super Bowl by beating the Bengals with the offense he had built there.

Which Bengals receiver, the fourth pick of the 2011 draft, made the Pro Bowl in each of his first seven seasons?

A.J. Green arrived in the same draft as quarterback Andy Dalton, and with the two rookies starting, a team that had won four games in 2010 went straight to the playoffs.

Which executive was the Bengals' de facto general manager in their 2021 Super Bowl season?

Duke Tobin did the job without the title: the Bengals listed him as director of player personnel on a staff with no general manager, so reporters called him the de facto one.

Which Bengals linebacker's illegal hit on Antonio Brown set up Pittsburgh's winning kick in the January 2016 playoffs?

Vontaze Burfict's foul, and another on a teammate moments later, moved the Steelers into range for the field goal that won it 18–16; the NFL then banned him for the first three games of the next season.

Which Heisman-winning quarterback did the Bengals draft in 2003, then keep on the bench for his entire rookie season?

Carson Palmer's Bengals career ended as it began, with him watching: refused a trade in January 2011, he stayed away, reportedly ready to retire, until he was dealt to Oakland that October.

Before the NFL created the AFC North in 2002, the Bengals had played since 1970 in which division?

The AFC Central had grown to six teams by 2001; when it was split, the Bengals kept Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Baltimore in the new North, while Tennessee and Jacksonville went to the South.