How did you become a Bengals fan?

[sonofstat]

back when i was 14 years old here in England... 'American Football' was only on once a week on a highlights show.

They were interviewing some charismatic, blond quarterback who's team had started at 6-0 that season.. they played in tiger stripes, and had a guy doing some weird shuffle TD dance. So that was my team!!!

I would say at that point after seeing the 88 Bengals get to the Super Bowl in my first year watching the NFL i thought this team must always be among the best ...little did i know what the 90's were bringing :)

[StLucieBengal]

10 September 1976

Born into the club. and a very proud Bengal fan.

[Derrick]

(10-21-2015, 06:02 AM)McC Wrote: Before there were Bengals, (yes, I'm THAT old), my dad was a Cleveland Browns fan.  I was a huge Jim Brown fan.

We didn't live in Cincy but we were from there and my dad was a fan of anything Cincy.  When the Bengals were born, there was no way he wouldn't be a Bengals fan and there was no way I wouldn't be a fan of whatever he loved.  It was just inevitable, really.

I was a big Browns fan - Lou Groza, Jim Brown, et al. When Paul Brown established the Bengals, I switched and never looked back.

[*wildcats forever*]

One of my buddies' dad had season tickets their first year, and I got to go with him late in the season. We got to see Oakland kill the Bengals at Nippert. My main memory of that game was how good the Raiders seemed, and how they seemed to keep going after the whistle blew, as in a punch here, and stepping on a player there .... We weren't a very good team. Had a great time though, and I still love Nippert Stadium.

I got to go with him again the next year, and saw us win against San Diego. Greg Cook was our QB, and I was hooked after that game. Been hooked ever since.

[CageTheBengal]

I started becoming a football fan because I loved watching Brett Favre, Ahmad Green, Donald Driver and Darren Sharper. They were some of my favorite players to watch. I started watching them whenever I got the chance late into the 2004 season. It's a shame Sharper ended up being a serial rapist.

Then before the 2005 season I decided to root for the Bengals over the Packers because my dad, grandpa and best friend were all Bengals fans plus we lived in Dayton so I had a deeper connection with the Bengals. It was a fun first season as a Bengals fan.

[CincyKid]

Born in Cinti, raised in Loveland. Love everything Cincinnati..............Reds, Bengals, Bearcats, Muskies, Redskins, Skyline, Gold Star, La Rosas and Montgomery Inn

My high school mascot was a Tiger and our school colors were black and orange so naturally I was Bengals fan too !

I started going to Wilmington for training camps w/ a church group in the early 70's. I still remember getting autographs from Bill Bergey, Speedy Thomas, Essex Johnson, Bob Trumpy, Kenny Anderson, Lemar Parrish, Tommy Casanova etc. They would come over and joke with us and sign whatever we put in front of them. Just great memories.

I met the players, i had their autographs, i knew what they looked like w/o their helmets, they were my big, giant heros......had to be a Bengal fan.......no choice

Im a 25 year season ticket holder............would never think of rooting for any other team.............been thru a LOT of lean years but these last 5 have been fantastic. Keep it going Marvin, Hue and Andy. Sure am enjoying the ride.

[Shake n Blake]

I was born and raised in Covington, Ky which is essentially south Cincinnati. Way back in 1993 (when I was 12), I really started getting heavy into sports. Especially football. Being the local team, the Bengals were the obvious choice. I only root for hometown teams. Unfortunately, I became a fan at a bad time. I always looked for reasons to be optimistic back then, though. Blake-mania, Corey Dillon, new free agents and draft picks always gave some hope.

[Beaker]

My grandparents lived in Blue Ash. We used to come visit every summer. When I was 6 yrs old....in August of 1968, my grandfather said "I'm taking my grandson to a football game". He took me down to Nippert Stadium to see the Bengals first preseason game vs the Chiefs. It was the first time they stepped onto a field to play another team. I still have both my ticket stub, and my program from that game. How many people can say they were at their favorite team's first game ever? I can.

[seab00]

Season ticket holder from the beginning @ Nippert thru the 1977 season.
Was a Browns fan before the Bengals came into existence.
Moved to AZ in 1978 but have continued to be a Bengal fan all these years.
Get to see them live when they come to Phoenix.

[*Awful Llama*]

Secret blood oath/virginity ritual. Same as most.

[bengalsfan73]

I have been a fan since the mid 70s and I honestly would have to say that I became a fan because they were a tiger and I have always been an animal lover. I also always liked their helmets and I always liked watching Ken Anderson who is my favorite player of all time. Ironically for Christmas last year my brother surprised me with a signed Ken Anderson jersey which is my best gift ever. I have been a fan through the good and mostly bad and I will never change no matter what happens. The Bengals will always be my favorite team. So it actually is irritating to see all of these bandwagon fans who have no clue who plays on the team but they act like they have been fans forever. Who Dey

[Tomkat]

I was born in Cincinnati (1971) and have been a Bengals/Reds fan ever since, even though I've lived in PA most of my life.

[Hammerstripes]

I was like any other kid back in the 1980s - I picked my team based on their uniforms. I was an Eagles fan until the Bengals came out with the stripes.

I've never left. Not even during the 90s and early 2000s. Of course I am a huge draft junkie, so even the bad years were pretty interesting for me since they were always picking high.

[*Awful Llama*]

Dad was not a football fan.  To my knowledge, he never attended a game in his life.  He played baseball up through high school, so he'd watch that.  But, football wasn't permitted on our tv.  When my parents divorced and he moved out, mom, sis and I started watching football.  The Bengals were the local team, on the radio and television, so it made sense to start cheering for them. 

Someome bought me a Bengals cap, maybe an uncle, which was prior to the uniform re-design, so it had BENGALS in block letters on it.  Attended my first Bengals game during the '81 Super Bowl season, the Denver game where we rolled up 500+ yards at Riverfront on a cold Sunday before Thanksgiving.  A few years back I got to talk about that game with Ken Anderson when he was signing autographs at a Menard's opening in Centerville.  He signed the game day program I've kept all these years. 

I realized a dream from my teenage years when I became a season ticket holder in 2000 with the opening of PBS.  So, this has been going on for me since the late 70s. 

[WiscoFan]

I was a youngin' and simply didn't want to root for the Packers like everyone else in the state. I'm not exactly sure why I picked Cincinnati- it might have been the uniforms. Either way, a few years later and now I'm a die-hard fan.

[Bengal Ben]

(10-21-2015, 09:22 AM)Atomic Orange Wrote: 1981. I was 9 years old and thought the stripes were the coolest thing ever.

Pretty much what this guys said.

My father always called me Benny the Tiger growing up. When I saw those stripes in 1987, it was my team. Tiger team. Then watched them lose the Superbowl in '88. Not too good for a seven year old. Been a fan ever since then though.

[RASCAL]

my father and I were Browns fans in the 60's when I was very young, until Paul Brown came to Cincinnati. Dad used to take me to 3-4 games in Cleveland. Then came the Bengals and my dads firm bought season tickets and the rest is history. God I miss my Dad going to the home games with me. He was always a secret closet lover of the Browns though he would NEVER admit it!!! Good Times remembered! WHO DEY!!!

[*jason*]

My dad used to drag me to training camp once every summer in Wilmington (about 20 minutes from where I grew up).  I was 7,8,9,10 years old or so.  I met players like Jim Breech, Collinsworth, Munoz...  I actually bumped into Anthony Munoz (out in public) so often as a young kid, that I thought he and I knew each other...  Probably 2-3 times, but it seemed like a lot back then.

I wasn't a huge fan of the Bengals, or football in general though (basketball and boxing were my favorites as a kid) until I went to college...  OSU 1993.  Most of my friends that I met were Browns fans, and I am a natural contrarian.  I would root for the sorry team closer to my hometown...  Shit...  My pops loved them.  That was all I needed.

[Sweetness]

Born, raised, and still reside in cincinnati. Grew up on the west side now live in Mason. I didn't know it was possible to be a fan of a non cincinnati team?

[BFritz21]

(10-21-2015, 10:10 AM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: Born and raised here.  You could say I was born into dysfunction.  Although I did get on a short Chicago Bears kick when I was about 6.  I loved McMahon, the Fridge, and Walter Payton.

I still have my Bengals team shirt with the big cartoon heads lying around here somewhere.  Who else remembers those?  I think I have a Reds one too.

Same here and loved the Bengals growing up, but, aside from the late 80s and early 90s, once I learned what football was and started playing, I loved college football because it was more pure football and I loved Ohio State (but loved watching teams like Army and Navy run the triple option!).  After the wreck, though, I just followed high school football because I was too busy to follow college or pro, but then started playing fantasy football in '02, Bengals drafted Palmer in '03, everyone around here became fans again (even though he didn't play in '03, but the team was still decent for the first time in forever), and I just started loving the hometown football again!

(10-21-2015, 08:41 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: I was born and raised in Covington, Ky which is essentially south Cincinnati. Way back in 1993 (when I was 12), I really started getting heavy into sports. Especially football. Being the local team, the Bengals were the obvious choice. I only root for hometown teams. Unfortunately, I became a fan at a bad time. I always looked for reasons to be optimistic back then, though. Blake-mania, Corey Dillon, new free agents and draft picks always gave some hope.

Yeah, I was from Fort Mitchell and we could see the Cincinnati skyline from our backyard when the trees didn't have any leaves.