NFL 100-your first memory of football

[*pally*]

3 more weeks until football!

In honor of NFL's 100th bday, what is your first Bengals memory and what is your first NFL memory?

My first Bengal memory was the Freezer Bowl. I lived in Kansas and didn't have a favorite in this game. I was a Cowboy and Chiefs fan back then. I rooted for them because I always rooted against the California team. I always rooted for them after that.

My first NFL memory starts with my brother. When he was about 7 he played on a pee wee football team. One of his teammates was the son of the Redskins backup QB. The QB acted as an assistant coach. He would bring all sorts of equipment from the Redskins camp, including the playbook. So picture 7-year-olds running double reverses. This team stayed together for 3 years and was undefeated that entire time. The QB got the boys and their families tickets to a game in 1968. It was a Cowboy-Redskins game. Don Meridith vs Sonny Jurgenson in the old RFK stadium. I rooted for the Cowboys because of their blue uniforms and likely just to be contrary to everyone else. I have no idea of who won but I was hooked on watching football from then on

[*bfine32*]

First Bengal memory:

1974: Our Little league team traveled from Mt Sterling, KY to Watch Cincy play on opening day. I had no idea who was on the Bengals or who they were playing. Being from a small KY town I was a Cowboys fan; as that is about the only games we got. I remember walking in and being awe struck by the site. my only memory from the game was I remember seeing a guy jump higher than I'd ever seen anyone jump; he was downing a punt. Years later I want to say it was Tommy Casanova but I cannot be certain

First Football memory:

1975: My beloved Cowboys were taking in the hated Vikings in the playoffs. In the closing seconds Staubach throws up the ball and exclaims 'Hail Mary" and Drew Pearson "gets himself open" and catches it for a TD

[*ochocincos*]

Ickey Shuffle

[Yojimbo]

I know I watched thee Bengals since I was a baby with my dad, but first memory I can pull up is the ‘88 season. Earliest football though is the ‘85 Bears and watching Mike Singletary. He’s the reason I always played MLB growing up.

[fredtoast]

My first football memories were from 1972.  I was in fourth grade and that was the first year I played organized Pee Wee football.

I remember more about the OSU Buckeye games than I do Bengal games.  My first "jersey" (actually just a very large t-shirt) was a scarlet #45.  Back then very few games were on TV.  I remember listening to OSU games on the radio.  It seemed like every one was a blowout until we played Michigan in the final game each year.  Other than the famous tie all the other games kind of run together.  The first specific game I remember was the '72 Rose Bowl where USC's Sam "Bam" Cunningham scored a bunch of tds and USC crushed the Buckeyes.  

I can't recall anything specific about the Bengals '72 season, but I remember watching the '72 Super Bowl when the Dolphins beat the Redskins to finish 17-0.  I'll never forget the Redskins only td on the botched FG by Garo Yepremian.

I remember the Bengals '73 season.  Both Isaac Curtis and Boobie Clark were rookies.  Boobie and Essex Johnson had the greatest season of any Bengal RB combo ever.  That was just a 14 game season and they missed having two 1000 rushers by just 15 yards (Clarke 988, Johnson 997), and they both had over 350 receiving yards.  We lost to the Dolphins in the playoffs that year and it was not even close.  Biggest win was when we went to Minnesota late in the season and absolutely destroyed the Viking team that would go to the Super Bowl that year.

[fredtoast]

(07-05-2019, 05:18 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I remember the Bengals '73 season. 

Just did a little research on that season and here is a fascinating fact.  In 8 of the Bengals 15 games that year (including the playoff game) the opposing QB was a Hall of Famer.


Terry Bradshaw, Steelers (2 games)
Len Dawson, Chiefs
Roger Staubach, Cowboys
Joe Namath, Jets
Fran Tarkenton, Vikings
Bob Griese, Dolphins
Johnny Unitas, Chargers....Most people forget Unitas played his final season in San Diego.  After attempting 31 passes against the Bengals in the third game of the season he would only throw 10 more in his career.  He lost his starting job the next week to a rookie QB from Oregon, but even if it had happened a week earlier we still would have faced a Hall of Fame QB in Dan Fouts.

[*Awful Llama*]

(07-05-2019, 03:17 PM)bfine32 Wrote: First Football memory:

1975: My beloved Cowboys were taking in the hated Vikings in the playoffs. In the closing seconds Staubach throws up the ball and exclaims 'Hail Mary" and Drew Pearson "gets himself open" and catches it for a TD

I have a buddy who's a Viking fan, and to this day if anyone mentions that game to him, he's suddenly like a Sox fan talking about Buckner in game six.  

My father hated football, and especially any Ohio team, be it the Bengals, Browns or OSU.  So, we didn't watch football in my house growing up.  After they divorced I was finally free to watch it, and one of the first games I remember watching was that Raider SB in '77.   I watched Bengal games from about that point on, but my first memory was of a game I attended in 1981.  They played the Broncos and rolled up 500+ yards in offense that day for another W in the SB season.  Many years later I got to meet Kenny Anderson and speak with him about the game.  

[Nicomo Cosca]

The first Bengals memory I have is from the 88 Super Bowl. Tim Krumrie breaking his leg. I was only 5 but I still remember it to this day.

[grampahol]

I still remember Virgil Carter thinking he was a great QB just because back then my itty bitty brain liked the name Virgil. It hasn't grown much since then, but I'm no longer enamored with the name Virgil.. 
My first football experience was some peewee thing. I was a chubby little squirt and they made me the center and got plastered regularly by the big kids playing defensive line. I quit football in favor of baseball since even as a chubby little squirt I could still hit the ball and catch most everything that came my way..

[*Synric*]

January 1st 1994 New Years Day WVU vs Florida in the Sugar Bowl...I was 8 years old so I actually don't remember much about the game other than WVU got crushed but I remember my dad and his friends jumping up and yelling/cussing at the TV. My dad allowed me yell/cuss and let me sip from his Budweiser if I didnt tell my mother lol. I've been a football fanatic ever since...and a Budweiser drinker.

[grampahol]

(07-05-2019, 07:40 PM)Synric Wrote: January 1st 1994 New Years Day WVU vs Florida in the Sugar Bowl...I was 8 years old so I actually don't remember much about the game other than WVU got crushed but I remember my dad and his friends jumping up and yelling/cussing at the TV. My dad allowed me yell/cuss and let me sip from his Budweiser if I didnt tell my mother lol. I've been a football fanatic ever since...and a Budweiser drinker.

I wouldn't admit to drinking that slop.. Not on a bet.. Look it up in the dictionary under piss water..

[*Synric*]

(07-05-2019, 07:42 PM)grampahol Wrote: I wouldn't admit to drinking that slop.. Not on a bet.. Look it up in the dictionary under piss water..

Knock it all you want but Budweiser isnt called "The King of Beer" for nothing. 

[Nicomo Cosca]

(07-05-2019, 07:42 PM)grampahol Wrote: I wouldn't admit to drinking that slop.. Not on a bet.. Look it up in the dictionary under piss water..

Damn right, gramps. Bud is foul.

(07-05-2019, 07:49 PM)Synric Wrote: Knock it all you want but Budweiser isnt called "The King of Beer" for nothing. 

And Miller High Life is the “Champagne of Beers” but they both suck...lol

[Yojimbo]

(07-05-2019, 03:40 PM)ochocincos Wrote: Ickey Shuffle

When I was a kid, we went to Surf Cincinnati and Ickey was there (and a few other Bengals) doing the Shuffle in the tide pool.

[scorp1974]

Going to the striped helmets.

[*Synric*]

(07-05-2019, 07:42 PM)grampahol Wrote: I wouldn't admit to drinking that slop.. Not on a bet.. Look it up in the dictionary under piss water..

(07-05-2019, 08:13 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Damn right, gramps. Bud is foul.


And Miller High Life is the “Champagne of Beers” but they both suck...lol

What do you two drink? Also Champagne sucks as much as Miller does....and that's what they sell in stadiums.

[kevin]

I'm old, so I remember before I was in grade school in 1960, my Dad watching Paul Browns Cleveland Browns on floor model black & white TV of that era. We got CBS-7 and NBC-2. There was a special dial for numbers over 9 or 10. That dial could sometimes get ABC and why ABC was USA's #3 channel. Browns came on CBS, the #1 Network back then.

So I move ahead to 1967 and on Reds game on radio they announced Cincinnati was getting an AFL team and the owner and coach would be Paul Brown. My dad got excited and kept saying Paul Brown, Paul Brown and then said, " If Paul Brown is putting a team in Cincinnati, We Are Going ". He did and we had season tickets at Nippert and then Riverfront.

So the 2 are connected. 1960 at 5 years old seeing my dad on Sunday watch Paul Brown Browns, and in 1967 my dad fired up to see Paul Browns Bengals. Anybody else, and my dad may not have got fired up about Cincy AFL Team, but this was Hall Of Fame Paul Brown of Ohio State and Cleveland Brown Championships, that I never saw, but my Dad had in 1940's and 1950's.

The really first good Bengals play I saw in 1968 was Paul Robinson start to the right on a sweep past the tackles. He got to the sideline area fast and cut up field for like a 70 yard touchdown just like Jim Brown or Leroy Kelly in Cleveland. He ended up AFL leading rusher and Rookie Of The Year. I think Leroy Kelly in Cleveland was NFL leading rusher the same year. Paul Robinson was a big reason Bengals won NFL AFC North in 1970. Bengals Fans need to know how good The Cactus Comet was. He got traded for Charlie Joiner who later got traded for Coy Bacon, all Top Players. The 68 team wasn't very good, but Paul Robinson was.

[HarleyDog]

(07-05-2019, 03:17 PM)bfine32 Wrote: First Bengal memory:


1975: My beloved Cowboys were taking in the hated Vikings in the playoffs. In the closing seconds Staubach throws up the ball and exclaims 'Hail Mary" and Drew Pearson "gets himself open" and catches it for a TD

I saw that game. I loved Staubach and the Cowboys when I was young. It’s not like on 4pm Sunday we had any other team to watch.

My first Bengal memory was when they beat the Cowboys in 1985 50-24. My family rooted for the Bengals, while I was rooting for Dallas. I was shamed that day in a big way.

My first feeling of being exiled from my family? See above.

[HarleyDog]

(07-05-2019, 09:09 PM)kevin Wrote: I'm old, so I remember before I was in grade school in 1960, my Dad watching Paul Browns Cleveland Browns on floor model black & white TV of that era. We got CBS-7 and NBC-2. There was a special dial for numbers over 9 or 10. That dial could sometimes get ABC and why ABC was USA's #3 channel. Browns came on CBS, the #1 Network back then.

So I move ahead to 1967 and on Reds game on radio they announced Cincinnati was getting an AFL team and the owner and coach would be Paul Brown. My dad got excited and kept saying Paul Brown, Paul Brown and then said, " If Paul Brown is putting a team in Cincinnati, We Are Going ". He did and we had season tickets at Nippert and then Riverfront.

So the 2 are connected. 1960 at 5 years old seeing my dad on Sunday watch Paul Brown Browns, and in 1967 my dad fired up to see Paul Browns Bengals. Anybody else, and my dad may not have got fired up about Cincy AFL Team, but this was Hall Of Fame Paul Brown of Ohio State and Cleveland Brown Championships, that I never saw, but my Dad had in 1940's and 1950's.

Kevin, that was an awesome post.

[HarleyDog]

(07-05-2019, 07:40 PM)Synric Wrote: January 1st 1994 New Years Day WVU vs Florida in the Sugar Bowl...I was 8 years old so I actually don't remember much about the game other than WVU got crushed but I remember my dad and his friends jumping up and yelling/cussing at the TV. My dad allowed me yell/cuss and let me sip from his Budweiser if I didnt tell my mother lol. I've been a football fanatic ever since...and a Budweiser drinker.

Lol, we should hang out sometime. Our fathers may have been related.