Blame it all on my roots..

[The Real Deal]

Let's go back to the roots of our Fandom. Out of curiosity when did you become a cincinnati bengals fan and why?

You could say I was born into it in 1983 but I remember the day I became hooked on cincinnati bengals football like it was yesterday. It was January 22, 1989, and I was 5 years old. Everyone gathered at my uncles house to watch the Bengals - 49ers super bowl that day.

Now because I was just 5 years old I of course didn't watch the game intently or really even know exactly what was going on in the game. I remember bits and pieces but for the most part it was other things that I really took note of.

First, and really the less important factor, was that my uncle had a huge projector style big screen TV. Those were super rare back then, and while it's laughable looking back at the quality picture that TV put off, it really stuck in my mind just because I thought it was so cool. I remember sitting directly in front of it while watching some of the game. Looking back I probably was doing that just so I could make out who had the ball and where it was because again, picture quality not so good.

The most important reason though, was my family and friends excitement for that bengals team. Their passion and excitement for that team then is why I'm a fan now. After that game I remember never missing watching a game and I still don't to this day. It's been hard at times... Really hard. But my passion has not and will never die. And it's all because of a day the Bengals lost on a January evening in 1989.

So how about you?

[Driver62]

1972 for me. I got out of the AF in 1971 and became a Bengals fan. I also held season tickets for 22 years.

[brian5562]

Started watching in 1987 and thinking how cool it was that I lived in a town with professional football. 88 was awesome and made me proud and excited to be a Bengals fan. Was there live for our last playoff win against the oilers and will always remember the Jungle being so loud that day. My fandom grew substantially when I moved a away from the area. Being a Bengal fan in Utah is rare and I wear my who dey gear with pride. When people say man a Bengals fan you need a new team it is nice to say yeah 4 straight playoff trips and being in 1st of place of your division just sucks.

[The D.O.Z.]

I was born, raised, and still live here in the eastern suburbs of Cincinnati. My grandma got me into Reds baseball when I was very young, but I didn't start watching football until that glorious 1988 season. I was in 5th grade and could remember them taking this city by storm. Broke my heart when they lost and to this day I still root against San Francisco.

[BFritz21]

Grew up here, so always had a natural following, but I grew up playing football and loved college football so much more than the NFL because it was just more pure football.

Actually, I always wanted to play at Ohio State, and the Bengals being horrible in the 90s always made it easier to just ignore them (although I did still pull for them, which seemed kind of stupid and we didn't get to see many games because of the blackout rules *lived just over five miles from the stadium*).

After the wreck, I didn't follow much besides for local sports and watching the occasional NFL game on Monday Night Football or random games on Sundays.

In 2003, I got into fantasy football with my best friends, so I got back into the wider range of football, and my brother had just graduated college and moved back, which him and all of his friends started going to games and following the team more, so I obviously got into it more and the love for the hometown team was just ingrained in me, even though it had been gone for so long.

Now, it's just the love for football and the hometown team!

[Edge]

Born the same year as the Bengals. Ohio native. No longer in Ohio, but fan since birth since Aunt/Uncle bought Bengal gear for me when I was born.....a long time ago, in a county far away....(in Cleveland territory no less)

[TSwigZ]

I've been a bengals fan my whole life and trust me at times I wish I wasn't but in the end it'll make it that much sweeter when we finally do win that Lombardi.

My parents are from Florida and are dolphins fans and I was born near Cleveland but they say I was obsessed with the tiger when I was a little kid and it stuck with me forever I bleed orange and black

[bengalsfan73]

I have been a fan of the Bengals since the mid to late 70s. I became a fan of the Bengals honestly as a kid because I really liked their uniforms. Ken Anderson is my favorite Bengals player of all time. I am from WV and I was the only kid in my area that liked the Bengals because every other kid either liked the Steelers or the Cowboys so I have always been given crap for my love of this team. The best gift I have ever been given was a couple of years ago when my brother surprised me with an autographed Ken Anderson jersey for Christmas. It was amazing because I finally was able to get a jersey of my favorite player of all time. No matter what anyone has said to me or what they continue to say about the Bengals I will never root for another team because I am a lifelong fan and I am proud of it. Who Dey

[WildCat]

my dad is why i'm a fan. i was born n' raised a bengal fan. didn't really come to pay attention til the '87 season when i was 10. i remember the '88 super bowl season. the "who dey rap" stuck in my head. ickey woods & david fulcher were my favorite players on that team. didn't pay a whole lot of attention through the 90's woes. that team had a big name in all facets of the game. boomer was a good QB ickey and james brooks in the backfield, munoz and montoya on the o-line, eddie brown chris collinsworth tim mcgee at WR. tim krumrie DT david fulcher S lewis billups & eric thomas @ corner. jim breech kicking. that team had great players.

this team has a good QB in dalton another duo in the backfield with jeremy hill and giovanni bernard. the oline has big whit and zeitler. AJ Green and Sanu/Jones at WR. Eifert @ TE. Geno Atkins DT Burfict LB Nelson/Iloka S Adam/DreK CB. they are set up to make the same run with a shot at the #1 seed yet again as they did that glorious season, and even if it's only a 2 seed they are set up for the best shot they've ever had at making another superbowl run since i've known the bengals.

i'll be a bengal fan until i die. who dey!

[Johnny Cupcakes]

I was born into a Bengal loving family, so I always kinda knew of them and casually rooted for them, but it wasn't until I was 16 that I really discovered the love. In the 2002 season, my grandfather decided he was too old for his season tickets (my family had 6 in a row), and I was the first one he offered them to. It was me, my dad, my two uncles, and one of my uncles two sons (we have since added two for my two little brothers), and in my first season, I got to experience the Bengals worst season ever. That didn't matter though...the game day experience had me fanatically hooked.

Unfortunately, due to having a job where I worked away from Cincinnati a lot, I chose to not keep my season tickets beginning in 2014. My family all still goes, and hopefully in 2016 or 2017, I will be able to jump back into my seat at PBS.

I am fortunate to have never experienced long spells of horrible play by the team. According to some of the more old crotchety members here, that invalidates my opinion. I'm just grateful that I've been semi lucky so far.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

There is a really good thread on this buried somewhere in the archives....we're all pretty much a sick lot.





 Edit : here it is......



http://thebengalsboard.com/Thread-How-did-you-become-a-Bengals-fan

[The Real Deal]

(12-02-2015, 05:05 AM)Wyche Wrote: There is a really good thread on this buried somewhere in the archives....we're all pretty much a sick lot.





 Edit : here it is......



http://thebengalsboard.com/Thread-How-did-you-become-a-Bengals-fan

Ah I didn't realize... 

Well,  thank you to the ones that decided to play along. 

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(12-02-2015, 09:57 AM)The Real Deal Wrote: Ah I didn't realize... 

Well,  thank you to the ones that decided to play along. 

Hey man, no problem.....I just thought you may want to read some more responses on your topic.  Some of those that answered in that thread are banned, and some don't post very often.  As for me, I was just too lazy to re-type my response!


......and I didn't mean to type the edit in bold font....my phone does screwy things on this site....scout's honor....I didn't even realize it was bolded until I read your response here at work.  Sorry if you took it the wrong way 

[fredtoast]

I started playing Pee-Wee Football in 1972.  I was 9 years old in the fourth grade.  That was the earliest you could play back then.  My dad was not a huge sports fan, but he had played baseball and basketball growing up and still watched some.  However he had never played football so he did not pay much attention to it.

Even though I would continue to play basketball and baseball, football would become my favorite sport.  And since Cincinnati was nearby (I grew up in Franklin) I have always been a Reds and Bengals fan.  The Bengals were a good team when I first started following them closely in 1973. The Reds were a dynasty in the making.  And the Buckeyes (my first jersey was a scarlet 45) were contending for a national championship every year.

It was a good time to become a sports fan.

BTW, even though I moved away fro Ohio in 1981 I was still an OSU fan until after I attended the University of Tennessee in the late 80's.  Now the Vols are my college team.  I have lived in cities with other professional sports teams (Nashville, Denver), but I have never wavered in my support of the Reds and Bengals.  And I paid for those good days of my youth in the 90's when my favorite pro teams were the Bengals, Reds, and Nuggets.

[StLucieBengal]

(12-02-2015, 01:15 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I started playing Pee-Wee Football in 1972.  I was 9 years old in the fourth grade.  That was the earliest you could play back then.  My dad was not a huge sports fan, but he had played baseball and basketball growing up and still watched some.  However he had never played football so he did not pay much attention to it.

Even though I would continue to play basketball and baseball, football would become my favorite sport.  And since Cincinnati was nearby (I grew up in Franklin) I have always been a Reds and Bengals fan.  The Bengals were a good team when I first started following them closely in 1973. The Reds were a dynasty in the making.  And the Buckeyes (my first jersey was a scarlet 45) were contending for a national championship every year.

It was a good time to become a sports fan.

BTW, even though I moved away fro Ohio in 1981 I was still an OSU fan after I attended the University of Tennessee in the late 80's.  I have lived in cities with other professional sports teams (Nashville, Denver), but I have never wavered in my support of the Reds and Bengals.  And I paid for those good days of my youth in the 90's when my favorite pro teams were the Bengals, Reds, and Nuggets.

Wow your older than I thought.

My childhood was the 80's (born '76) so I was a bengals fan because my dad was as well. Enjoying those good years made the 90's bearable. Glad marvin is here .... He was a perfect fit for Mike. It takes a special kind of bengals fan to survive the Shula, Coslet, LeBeau years.

[fredtoast]

(12-02-2015, 01:15 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I started playing Pee-Wee Football in 1972.  I was 9 years old in the fourth grade.  

(12-02-2015, 01:25 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote: Wow your older than I thought.  

The Bengals Super Bowls bracket my college experience.  

I was a freshman in college during the 1981 season, and I was in my final year of grad school in 1988.

[EatonFan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvCgSqPZ4EM

[t3r3e3]

1986. Bengals finished 10-6 and missed out on the Playoffs. Boomer played pretty well that year. He and James Brooks were my favorite players, along with Tim Krumrie. I started actively watching football the year before during the Bears run to the Super Bowl. Still feel bad for Tony Eason

[BengalRed]

Day one. I was 17 when the Bengals started in 1968. Been a fan since.

[The Real Deal]

(12-02-2015, 11:03 AM)Wyche Wrote: Hey man, no problem.....I just thought you may want to read some more responses on your topic.  Some of those that answered in that thread are banned, and some don't post very often.  As for me, I was just too lazy to re-type my response!


......and I didn't mean to type the edit in bold font....my phone does screwy things on this site....scout's honor....I didn't even realize it was bolded until I read your response here at work.  Sorry if you took it the wrong way 

Didn't take it the wrong way at all. No worries.