Why you do?

[Bengalion]

I was born and raised in Eastern Kentucky. First game I ever watched was Superbowl XVI in 1982. Needed to pick a team to root for when I had absolutely zero knowledge, and I picked the Bengals because I liked their jerseys better. I remember when I was in my early teens, late 70s/early 80s, all of my friends were starting to pick their favourite teams. Around that time, I came across a picture of me as a toddler decked out in Niners gear. My dad had a tendency to root for whomever was doing well at the time. When I found that picture, I decided I was a Bengals fan because I refused to root for the Niners after the SB loss.

Needless to say, the 1990s/2000s weren't the best times to be a Bengals fan, but it eventually paid off.

[*rfaulk34*]

(05-21-2025, 09:05 AM)HarleyDog Wrote: No story. Just a fan. FU!

LazyAss!!!!

[Stewy]

(05-21-2025, 11:56 AM)HarleyDog Wrote: Your fandom is tainted.

I was born in 1970.....I was young and impressionable.

[HarleyDog]

(05-21-2025, 01:10 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: LazyAss!!!!

Has it ever occurred to you that there may be a story, but I drink so much beer, I don't remember? All I know is I blacked out one day when I was 10 (Pabst Blue Ribbon), and I wake up every day seeing Bengals garb everywhere in my house and mancave. So, I guess my relationship is similar to the movie "50 First Dates." Every day, I wake up and realize I'm a Bengals fan, and I rush to the computer to see how good they are and how successful they've been. 

Did I also mention I battle depression? 

And, if you don't like this answer, you can take it up with me tomorrow.

[sandwedge]

(05-21-2025, 11:02 AM)Nepa Wrote: I grew up in northeastern Pennsylvania and had never been in Cincinnati. I became a Bengals fan via the Cincinnati Reds.

I became a Reds fan in 1964, when they were making a last-minute run to catch up to the Philadelphia Phillies, who had built up a seemingly insurmountable lead in the pennant race but totally fell apart in the last two weeks (10 straight losses at one point, Bunning pitching on 2-days rest). The Reds didn't catch them (the Cardinals did), but they ran off 9 straight wins at one point and it came down to the last game of the season, and I was hooked. And what a team to get hooked on. Pete Rose and eventually Johnny Bench and Perez and Joe Morgan and the Big Red Machine. And, amazing, when nightfall came, I was able to pick up a radio station from Cincinnati on my tiny transistor radio, and spend many nights (including school nights, hiding under my blanket) listening to the games. Still remember staying up late to listen to Art Shamsky hit three homeruns in one night. Still brings joy to my heart thinking about those teams.

Through the  Reds, I became a Cincinnati Royals fan (the Big O), and then the  Bengals when their franchise got started.

I still live in Northeastern PA (well, moved back there, to my original property, to raise my family) and don't see many Bengals fans out here (area is Steelers, Eagles, Jets, and Giants), but every once in a while see one with the Bengals hat on.

What year did the Royals leave Cincinnati? I was a Celtics fan, the 70s and 80s was a great time for the NBA and then it went to shit and when the Sonics left Seattle I totally despised the NBA

[Brownshoe]

My dad and I would always eat Bdubs on sundays and watch the games when I was young. I was a fan of Dillon but really didn't care for the team very much until Palmer came around. After I got a taste of a few winning seasons I was hooked on football.

[BengalsLUFC]

Born in 89.

Would fly over from England and visit my dad when school was out over here. He used to live in Jacksonville before moving to Cincy for work so when I was over for Halloween in 1999 and we played the Jags he took me.

Jags 43 - Bengals 10 I had **** all idea what American football was and didn’t care just fell in love with the stripes the atmosphere and everything that goes with it that day.

It was harder back then to watch all our games no firesticks, we sucked but every chance I got to go to a game I jumped at it. Learnt everything I could about the game as a teenager playing fantasy etc

This year when I do the cards and Browns games they will be my 18th and 19th live games and it took me 11 attempts to see us win live (God bless you Joe Burrow)

Biggest regret of my life not biting the bullet and going to the Super Bowl a few years ago if we ever get back there I won’t make that mistake again.

[*rfaulk34*]

Lotta great stories. Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far.

[*bfine32*]

Going to the games without a ticket in the late 70s-early 80s and knowing the right door to knock on. $20 got 4 of us in.

[Truck_1_0_1_]

I've mentioned mine in the past: the first part here may seem redundant, but there's a reason I bring it up lol.

When I was three (I started remembering things once I turned three: before then, I have 0 memory of anything), I played Golden Axe on the Sega Genesis for the first time and immediately became hooked on video games (it was the first time I played a videogame). I didn't know what I was doing, but I was having a blast lol. A few months later, football season begins and my dad being a massive Cowboys fan, they were always on Fox (the theme came out 2 years later and that has been embedded in my brain for most of my life lol) and we watched them every week, thus my first introduction to the sport was via the Cowboys. For some reason though, Boomer Esiason is the first player I ever remember hearing the name of, I don't know why. As the year wore on, names like Leon Lett and Nate Newton (probably due to alliteration) became stuck in my head and when they won the SB, it was Cowboys mania in our house.

I'm nearing 4 years old after the SB and I start playing the original, console version of John Madden football on the Genesis at my uncle's, but there were only 16 teams in the game (or 18 or whatever) and the Cowboys were not one of them! (when the game came out, they went 1-15, so my guess is they were left off for that reason) Bummed not being able to play as them, since I was a big cat lover, my uncle suggested to pick the Bengals, as they were tigers. So I play with them, lose every game because I don't know how to play the game lol. but have enough fun. Fast forward a few more months and now at 4, I ask my dad about the Bengals and he tells me that Boomer used to be their QB (he was with the Jets at this point) and that instantly shot them to be above the Cowboys lol. The season starts and we only see highlights and newspaper box scores (I learned to read all boxes at a young age ), but the first Bengals player I learn of is John Copeland (hence why he is my second favourite Bengals DL ever) and then I embraced every opportunity I had (which were copiously few) to see or read about the team.

Fast forward 5 years to 1998 and I inherit my uncle's Genesis. As the console was discontinued, games were being heavily discounted at video rental shops and the first game we got (for $5.00) was Madden 98. ROSTERS. TRADES. ALL THE TEAMS. I was in heaven and it was at that point that I was no longer just a fan of the team, but became obsessed lol. The dawn of the internet made me even more obsessed and once I joined the mothership in April of '09 (right before the draft), I made it a point of becoming as invested as I could in the team going forward.

And here we are :)

[*pally*]

Because I live in Cincinnati...who else would I root for!!!!

I grew up a football fan...from the time I was 5 or 6, I got dragged to my brother's youth games. One of his teammates was the son of a Washington Redskin offensive lineman. These little kids practiced with "surplus" pro-level equipment and used the team's playbook. The rules around kids sports were a lot different back then. They went undefeated for 3 years. But the teammate's dad gave the entire team and families tickets to games when he could. We got to see the Tom Landry-coached Cowboys play the Vince Lombardi-coached Redskins play at old RFK Stadium. Everybody was rooting for the Redksins...but I liked the pretty blue uniforms of the Cowboys. They became my team. When we moved to Dallas a couple of years later, I was in 7th heaven. The Cowboys were on one TV channel and it seemed the Chiefs were always on the other so they became my 2nd favorite team (they still are...don't shoot me)
My Cowboy fandom was waning, when Icky Woods pulled me over to the Bengals. That Bengals team was having fun.

[Bengal Billy]

Born in 72 raised in southeastern OH area ("Tri-State" region/corner of OH,KY,WV). Cincy was the team for me as we always made many Reds games when I was a kid and then finally made it to Riverfront to see the Bengals live starting at 8-9 years old. First game I attended was old school unis,, next game attended the next year was the debut of the glorious helmets we know today !!

Many Bengals fans in my area, very many. But back in the day, many more Browns and Steelers fans puke. Only 2.5 hr from Cincy but a large contingent of bandwagon Browns and Steelers fans. Not for me, always Cincy all the way!

Hooked ever since I was a kid. Attended very many Bengals games over the decades and different eras of teams. So many exciting atmospheres in both Riverfront and PBS/Paycor during those times. Have also attended some disappointing stinkers.

One of my favorite things to witness live over a short period of time was through the early 2000's. After some years of futility, the team started getting better and better,, and you could actually feel the excitement in the atmosphere growing stronger each year until they had some real players and were competing for division titles and playoff games. GameDay atmosphere was peaking. Awesome stuff.

Still go, and still enjoy.

[The Clapp]

I was born in central Pa. When i was 5, my mother took me to a Department store to buy my brother and I coats. My brother instantly took the eagles jacket. My father assumed i would take the Steelers jacket. My mother being the kind person she was, said Honey go look at the coats and take the one you like the best. I strolled back over to them 10 mins later with the Bengals jacket. My dad said why son why.. My mother said David he is 5 years old.. of course he would pick the tiger over some colored diamonds. I loved my mom

[*jason*]

I like ugly uniforms and antiquated ownership and management structures...

I actually was a Los Angeles Raiders fan (Jim Plunkett, Marcus Allen, Lester Hayes era) as a kid, but they weren't as easy to see on TV in the Dayton area as the Bengals. My dad was a Bengals fan and took me to at least one or two games a year at Riverfront. That environment was insane (before the NFL became the bougie corporate environment it is now) for a small child. By the time the 88 super bowl season rolled around I really started following the team, and I'd hear all the Gary Burbank shit on 700. I started drifting to the local team. I lost interest when Wyche and the boys all left. I regained it in college just to be a heel for my college roommates who were all Browns fans... Then the Browns moved and the Bengals were on every week in Columbus. They sucked, but Blake and Pickens were exciting. Rooting for a loser became my passion. Then it started to "pay off" with Carson and Chad... Decades later; here we are.