Newer “bandwagon” fan, but grew up a rams fan in St. Louis until they left and had mostly stopped watching football and busy with life. Fast forward to two years ago when the rams played the bengals in the Super Bowl, I rooted for the Bengals and ended up really liking the team and players. also, I can’t stand all the “life long” chiefs fans in St. Louis now.
Hey we're in the same boat except I'm from Western Kentucky exactly 3 hours from both St Louis and Cincy. So I started cheering for Cincy when the Rams left. It also helps my wife is from NKY
Lol my wife just says Northern KY. But it's hard to blame y'all because no one has ever heard of Park Hills, KY and everyone has heard of Cincinnati. Also, culturally, NKY is more Cincinnati than KY
When I was in middle school, I had a crush on someone who was from Maryland and regularly wore Ravens merch. This crush was not mutual, and out of spite, I watched the 2014, week 8 game between the Bengals and Ravens and rooted against the Ravens.
I knew nothing about football prior to that moment and literally spent the week leading up to it learning the rules of football and watching people play Madden in order to have any clue wtf was going on. To my family, my sudden desire to watch a random-ass Bengals game on the basis of "I really dislike the Ravens" was weird since I would regularly talk about hating sports prior to that moment (and regularly bashed the Bengals on the basis of they were the local team, and I didn't like hearing people talk about them for some reason).
I planned on that being the only Bengals game I ever watched, but a few weeks later, I was back for more and have been ever since. This also expanded to me becoming a Reds fan in 2015 since they're the local MLB team and later an FC Cincinnati fan (albeit not until last year since this time last year I thought the Reds would lose another hundred games and wanted something positive to look forward to haha)
Two routes; one destination.
1.) Like a lot of people; I used to spend way too much time on my Madden dynasty. Back then, my main was the Saints (Louisiana native), and my side team was always the Bengals. I literally made them BengaLSU. Drafting all the LSU players and letting them generally be my opponent in the Super Bowl every season.
2.) You probably figured this one out through the Louisiana native and making BengaLSU, but in one word: Burreaux.
If I need to elaborate (and I’m talking about Joe so of course I do!), there has never been a NCAA quarterback that played with the ice that he did in that 2019 season. I made up my mind mid season that not only was this dude winning the Heisman and getting us a title, that he was going to continue on doing this, for the rest of his career. I knew that I was going to follow this upstanding young man wherever he went, and embrace and love that team and fan base.
I couldn’t be happier. I love being a Bengals fan, I love this team, and I love this fan base.
Let’s own this off season and make this next season ours.
Who Dey!
Louisiana native, too. Always a massive LSU fan but never watched much NFL. Joe made me a Bengals fan. I have the LSU Burreaux jersey and his rookie Bengals jersey!
Well they really showed us how much they belong to this city and our sports history by having a record setting season only to lose in the playoffs to our rivals who wear black and yellow. If that doesn’t earn your place in Cinci sports I don’t know what does.
I’m trying to get into them, but that emotional connection just isn’t there for me yet. I typically need to know the players pretty well before I start caring and consistently watching. However, I don’t often watch the games on tv because I don’t know the players. Kind of a chicken and egg situation
My first/high school boyfriend really wanted to get me into sports and encouraged me to "pick a football team" thinking it would make me more engaged.
I picked the Bengals because I knew about Chad Ochocinco and thought he was hilarious, and because of the awesome uniforms/helmets. Fast forward 21 years and I'm still here! <3 My love for this team has just grown and grown and the past few years have brought me so much joy.
It's so random being a Bengals fan that was born, raised, and still lives in the Los Angeles area though lol. Lots of "why the Bengals", "are you from Ohio", "was your dad a Bengals fan" questions haha.
But nope. Just a girl trying to impress her high school boyfriend by getting into sports and still loving that team decades later. I'm now the proud owner of a signed Ochocinco helmet that I bought with my gambling winnings when I made a longshot bet on them to go to the Superbowl.
He was a 49ers fan btw. EW. Really dodged a bullet.
https://preview.redd.it/t60pa6bh22kc1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2047bb96af64f78aa213560b6f5562599eeb993d
Getting one of these out of a vending machine.
1983-ish.
I thought they had the coolest kit, also I like tigers....
I am a simple beast.
Im in the UK so I dont have any geographical allegiance. So I just picked the one I liked and stuck with it.
Bengals were my dad’s favorite AFC North team (he’s from Indy so was a long-time Colts fan). I would watch the games with him as a kid and after he passed, I stopped following football for awhile. Then, I met my partner who’s from Cincy and she converted me to a full-on Bengals fan ever since. She also brought me to my first NFL game and bought me a Chase jersey for Christmas last year. I’ll forever be a Bengals fan.
Started dating my girlfriend during the Bengals 2021 Super Bowl run season. I’m from FL and a Bucs fan she’s from Cinci/ Northern KY. Our first date was to Paul Brown stadium and between Joe Burrow airing it out and her looking gorgeous with the Roebling in the background I’ve been hooked on both the team and her ever since. The Bucs are still my number one team though. I move to Cinci in 2 days also with her. Im very excited to say my first WHO Dey as a resident!!
I’m from WV. EVERYONE there is a Steelers fan. I didn’t want to jump on a bandwagon and like them just because everyone else did. The Bengals were actually the closest NFL team to me geographically.
My dad was the manager of visiting team locker room, now my cousin does it. But I grew up around it and going to spinny field on Saturdays watching them practice. I was on the inside for awhile.
Tiger stripes. When I was a little kid I saw a Bengals pennant on the wall of a card shop and said “look mom Bengals!” My mom says it was my first sentence. No one knew why I knew them as we are from Spokane, Washington. The card shop owner sent me home with a bunch of Seahawks stuff in an attempt to convert me, but it was too late. I was a Bengals fan, and have stayed a Bengals fan for 35 years now.
I've lived in Cincinnati my entire life, but the first time I remember ever paying any attention to the Bengals was that my dad was excited for the AFC championship game in 1982. I would have been 9 at the time. That was the Freezer Bowl, And I remember that our furnace broke down that day and we were huddled together in the living room under blankets watching the game.
I didn't pay much attention to football for a few years after that, but I really got into it in the 1988 season when the Bengals went back to the Super Bowl.
Third generation fan. My dad was a kid when Cincy got the franchise. My grandpa grew up obsessed with the reds and passed that to me as well. He naturally adopted the bengals for himself and my dad. Raising two more bengals sons to continue the family tradition.
My family was never into football since they were immigrants from Belarus. I was born in NY and started learning about football through elementary school reading books/sports magazines about the NFL. The Bengals stood out to me with their uniforms. I started watching the bengals during the Chad Ochocinco/Carson Palmer era. WHO DEY FOR LIFE!
1. Cool colour scheme
2. Overseas so just supported what my fav American youtubers (Markiplier, Lordminion777 and Muyskerm) supported which was the bengals
3. Ohio
Well. Around 8 to 10 years old. Grandpa and my dad were bengal fans. Well Paul brown fans who became bengal fans. I started watching on the run to Super Bowl 16. My grandfather and dad never got to see them win a Super Bowl. My dad died 3 months after the lose to the rams so now I’m hoping I break the curse
My grandfather had season tickets for 25 years. Even though Cincy is just a part time home for me - he took me every so often when I came in town to go see the Bengals play. Had some epic experiences in the pouring rain and one special experience after a major snowfall when there was so much snow my feet were just encased in it. Boomer and Ickey were my favorite players as a kid - I remember wanting to buy Ickey Sticky buns at Buskins. I miss those days with my grandfather seeing the Bengals play.
I live far from Cincy and as I got older it became tough to come in town when the team was also in town. I watch every week on TV but hadn’t been to a game in person since the Riverfront days - about 20 + years ago. For Christmas I treated my dad and my 9 year old son (who is a huge Bengals fan now) to a game at Paycor. We had a blast.
Grew up in Kentucky but cheered for the Eagles as a kid because of McNabb. When he left and they signed Vick, I knew I couldn't support them anymore (i was like 14 tbh), so I switched to the "local" team which was the Bengals
(I was NOT football fan before my brother got me into it) my brother who is obsessed with football had me pick a team when he was getting really into it, and so I picked by far what I thought was the worst team. And I promised him that I would watch the first Super Bowl that the Bengals made it to… I made that promise in 2021.
Carson Palmer era. Housh, Johnson, Henry, Ochoa, then it continued I liked dalton. We kept getting these gingers. I’m from so cal followed Carson from usc.
Lived in Cincinnati a few years when I was young, including 1st grade. My teacher at that time was an ex Bengal cheerleader. So she naturally brought her Cincinnati sports Fandom to the classroom, and I quickly became a bengals fan because of that.
I was working at a sports bar in college. Grew up raised by a die-hard eagles fan and a patriot fan. My high school was pretty good at football and I really enjoyed the games but never followed the sport outside of that. All the regulars joked that I was a bandwagon fan as I would switch between the few shirts I owned from both teams (it was the year they played against each other in the super bowl) and a couple more teams I picked up from girls who graduated and left behind shirts for us to take. I was listening/watching a podcast that was put on by one of my favorite singers (Andy Biersack of Black Veil Brides) and he would constantly talk about the Bengals. I can't remember if it was 2018 or 2019 (but I know Dalton was still the quarterback) I figured if I was going to root for a team, I should at least know a little bit about them, and since they weren't very good I wouldn't be called a bandwagoner. Shortly after I decided to become a fan they stopped talking about them on the show 😂 but it made football way more entertaining for me and getting Burrow shortly after definitely made it easier 😂
OK, full disclosure here: I grew up in the Silicon Valley area, and so was well on my way to becoming a member of Da Raiduh Nation. My Dad would take us to a couple games a season. Most of you guys reading this are prolly to young to remember, but the Bengals used to have a pretty good LB in the 70s named Bill Bergey. He was my uncle by marriage. So when the Bengals came to town he'd leave us a few tickets at Will Call. I even got to go into the Bengals lockerroom once. Big time thrill for a kid! So even though I continued rooting for the Silver & Black I adopted Cincy as my "other" favorite team. I continue to root for them now. It's even more a bonus since they're in the same division as the Steelers, whom of course I have loathed since childhood.
Going to my grandparents every Sunday for dinner and my grandpa always having the game on, Chad Johnson is also a big reason because his personality and antics really engage you as a kid lol
Birth.
My grandparents went to the ‘82 and ‘89 Super Bowls. My east side Catholic elementary had an all-school mass or prayer service (I was in kindergarten) for the Bengals the week of the ‘89 Super Bowl during which my kindergarten class performed the Ickey Shuffle on the altar. I performed at a preseason game during the depressing paper bag years with my high school marching band. I went to HS with the kids of former Bengals players…
i was born into it, i had bengals themed birthday parties and my dad had a bengals themed room in our old house but we moved so now the bengals decorated room is the garage
I got sick of watching the patriots win every year and I loved watching BenJarvis Green-Ellis play. It also played hand in hand with the only Ginger QB in the league actually doing anything at the time. Made for one hell of a ride as a fan
At 6 years old my Grandpa told me I had to pick a team.
He was a Browns fan so to make things interesting I picked the Bengals...
Also at that age Tigers were my favorite animal.
thirty-something years later still a fan..
Stemmed from an off-and on curiosity surrounding American Soccer thanks to Blue Mountain State and Friday Night Lights. Then I learned about the eastern state of Ohio who I thought would be closer to Iowa than Canuckistan. Then I LARPed as a Buckeye from Colebrook, Ashtabula county for 2 years on an MMA forum filled with miserable old Gen-Xers, so in order to polish this alter-ego as to not blow my cover, I started resarching about local cultures, customs and laws, firearms, USPSA multigun, my alter ego's half german half polish ancestry, Methodism and lastly, watching the NFL.
In a tale as old as Abe Simpson's onion belt, I switched teams, shedding my former Foreskins for tiger striped ones when I moved out here about, oh, just in time for Dave Shula's "Era Of Innocent Error" and a playoff appearance drought that lasted until 2005.
Tigers have always been my favorite animal when I was young.
I'm not sure if madden was on Nintendo but I either played it on that or Playstation 1 against my brother.
I would always choose their team because of their uniform. I'm also not sure how the Bengals were truly around that time but I could never beat my brother with them. Then again I was a 6 or 7 year old playing a 15 year old in madden.
Once I got older I took football more seriously in the Dalton Era learned the songs and chants and became an active fan.
I’m an NJ kid. I grew up obsessed with tigers and the color orange. As soon as I saw those tiger stripe helmets in the Sears Christmas catalog it was over. That was 30 years ago.
Only been into football for a couple years now, but it was due to a college teacher having bengals stuff in his classroom and i just latched onto the team
Raised in Cincy as a kid. Discovered football while living there. This was 1981. Remember watching that first SB w/the Niners in the basement of our old house with my Dad and his friends and my brothers. lol Been loyal to my Bengals ever since!
My Uncle took me to my first game against the Cardinals but I didn't really start following them until that season with T.O. and Chad and the Hard Knocks season that Chris Perry was on.
So a mixture of my Uncle, living in Cincinnati, Hard Knocks, amd the dynamic diva duo of T.O. and Chad.
When I was in elementary school we always played kickball. About the fourth or fifth grade we were integrated with another school. So instead of having one black kid in the whole school we had several in each class. At recess they played football so I started playing football and fell in love with football. The closest pro team was the Bengals so I became a Bengals fan. Dad was also a Bengals fan. He used to be a Browns fan but that changed in 68.
As a kid I liked everything that was terrible, which is why I started loving them in the late 90s lol.
Plus the jerseys, I was like 7 and living in Buffalo lmao
Took a class about sports marketing. The school colors were orange and black. Felt like I was representing my school in 2007. Been with it every since. Let me tell you, Bengals fans are in the weirdest places.
Hard Knocks back in 2013.
Being in australia there wasn’t a lot of NFL around but I watched a few seasons of that (I think previous 2) but got really into the bengals season. Mainly from Gio driving him mother in laws mini van around.
10 years of misery deep here
My best friend is a lifelong Bengals fan and football is so important to her that my partner and I got invested so we could enjoy it all together! The Bengals/Rams Super Bowl was the first game I watched in earnest, and I’ve been following the Bengals closely since. I’ve absolutely fallen in love with the team, the guys, and the fans who are so dedicated! I used to think football and sports in general was dumb, but now I’ve seen the light and understand why it’s so important to people.
When the Raiders left LA back in 94 I dropped them like a bad habit. Years passed in SoCal and no expansion team. Got tired of waiting so in the late 2000’s I said “I’m gonna go for a team that people don’t jump on their bandwagon. And that it’s at least known for always having good defense over the years”. With that said, WhoDey!
I didn’t ask to be a bengals fan. I was born into this heartbreak. Though I’d rather die a bengals fan with no rings than have been born a Steeler, raven or chief. 🤮🤮🤮
I’m 14 but I was raised in cincy so I was a bengals fan but for most of my life we didn’t really get anywhere so I didn’t care much after burrow came I was a much bigger fan so that’s my answer
Use to be alot of Cleveland fandom around here. That changed real quick the night of the draft. Town was covered in signs til just recently, just a few still up I've seen mostly businesses. The kid had quite the effect on this little place.
My first team will always be the Chiefs, as I am a KC native and lived thru the shit years. With that being said I am a 20+ year Cincinnatian by marriage(although I will never understand Skyline Chili), and always root for the Bengals.....unless they're playing KC.
I was Ten yrs old and was watching the game with my father and I saw the most beautiful blonde man on the field. I've never looked back. That beautiful blonde was none other than Boomer!
From Montreal Canada.. I saw a video of young Chad Johnson saying he eats McDonalds daily and then witnessed a few wild celebrations and I was instantly hooked. Been with you guys since.
When I was little we were at the Mall of America and my brother and dad bought hats of the teams they liked and I wanted to be different and thought the tiger was cool so I bought the hat. Been a fan ever since
Just got into the NFL recently. My university (UST) here in the Philippines is associated with tigers during Collegiate games and the team is the closest thing to tigers. I’m also in the Joe Burrow bandwagon as he’s one of the players who beat Mahomes.
Not as crazy a some, but im French, living in Italy, lots of fantasy football cause of madden, only i always watched the 1st half of the SB cause here it STARTS at 12:30 am, and well monday work you know. Somehow i was off the monday of 2022 SB, watched the entire game for the first time, fell in love with the Bengals. Since then, converted my kids and wife.
Patiently waiting for them to go oversea for a play.
Also Joe.
i grew up in seattle but i became a fan when i was 6 because cats are my favorite animal and my name starts with B so a huge B for a logo really drew me to this team. still love my hometown seahawks but nothing tops cincy 🐯🐯
Superbowl XXIII, was 6 years old and thought it was cool af everybody getting all hyped up , showed what a big deal it was , those playoffs are the first games I can really remember watching, cried after Montana to Taylor
Carson Palmer.
I’m from the Los Angeles area and when I was like 10-11 he was the QB at USC and my grandpa had season tickets and took me to all the games. Fell in love with Carson almost immediately and since he went #1 overall to the Bengals I’ve been a Bengals fan ever since. Can’t stop won’t stop!
Aussie here and I followed Balmain Tigers NRL in Sydney. My boyfriend early 80s was a 49ers fan so I decided to support Bengals.. no regrets …. Still have my merch I bought in the US in 1990…. 🩷
Oh and I also support Cincinnati Reds… ❤️❤️
I’ll never forget. Corey Dillon’s rookie rushing record game in 2000. I was 15 and never gave a damn about the Bengals, but I watched that game and was so into it I never looked back.
Grew up in Greater Cincinnati, NKY specifically. My grandmother was an original season ticket holder from the first season. Everyone in my family who watches football is a Bengals fan. We all watched them lose the Super Bowl together in 2022. It was my 86 year old grandmother's 3rd loss. She was at the other two games in the 80s and also the Freezer Bowl. I hope we can get a championship while she's still alive.
Southeast Ohio made me, it was the way. Choices were Bengals, browns, or steelers, most of us here made the correct pick, the odd few that didnt have no excuse. Didn't wanna disappoint the old man back then and have never regretted it no matter how hard some of those years were. Still have the small wall of his Bengal beer collection in moms basement. Bengals and Reds for as long as I can remember. Now that our former neighborhood hometown hero is helping lead the charge makes it that much sweeter.
I am from Turkey and the first football game I watched was Bengals v Rams superbowl !!
I was sorry about all bengals team and since that day my bengals love constantly increased.
I love our mascot, our jerseys, our colors, our helmets... Man i love Bengals.
WHO DEY !!!
Being from the middle of Nebraska I never had a "local" NFL team so I didn't really pay attention to it, only cfb. Before the 2021 season I decided I needed pick a team after the suffering from being a Husker fan and the constant disappointment for the last 20 years. Decided to be a Bengals fan because I always liked Zac when he was at NE. Not to mention Stanley Morgan as well as the Burrows' NE connections.
I was a broncos fan as a kid, family is nothing but cowboys fans, but as i got older I fell off of football, then after i got really into competitive smash bros, I started seeing Burrow LSU highlights as he was about to be drafted to the Bengals on twitter, and I loved seeing him play, and I then learned the real competitive strategies football has to offer and how it can be translated to smash and something just clicked again and I fell in love with football all over again, and then little by little watching Burrow play turned me into a fan especially because he also plays smash and is into nintendo in general, and so ive been a fan since Burrow started and he reignited my passion for watching football and its nice to watch football with my family again and actually be into it. If it wasnt for Burrow, i dont think I would be so into the sport like I am now.
Joe burrow. I’ve always loved college ball, LSU specifically, but never really got into the NFL. I just so happened to start getting into it the year before Joe was drafted. I started dating my partner then and he loves all sports and is always watching, especially the NFL due to fantasy football. When Joe went to the Bengals that solidified they were my team.
I am from North Carolina and cared very little about football when I was a small child but fell in love with the helmet and jersey.. the rest is history. My grandfather is a browns fan, my grandmother is a steelers fan.. didn’t realize what it meant when I was a young kid.
Newer fan. I grew up in a Raiders household (Dad) in NWO most of the rest of my family are Lions fans but I never really gave a whole lot to either teams. Moved from NW Ohio to Central Ohio stopped watching Lions games. My son started playing peewee football last two years so we needed a professional team to root for. Huge Detroit Tigers fan so will never root for anything Cleveland and we watched the Bengals playoff run up into the Super Bowl and it stuck. We love this team! (My buddy has been die hard Bengals fan as well he may have convinced us to hop on also)
I was a bears fan growing up. I moved a state closer to Ohio and south, further away from the bears, who were terrible and I decided to choose a new team. Naturally, I chose the 6-9-1 Bengals (2016), who missed the playoffs, because I thought Andy Dalton was cool.
My dad
He passed this curse on to me, and I will pass the curse on to my children.
Thanks dad.
Me too. It’s a genetic disease that runs rampant in my family.
I enjoy constant disappointment. Reminds me of my childhood.
reminds me of adulthood
Reminds me of both.
You should be a browns fan then lol
Newer “bandwagon” fan, but grew up a rams fan in St. Louis until they left and had mostly stopped watching football and busy with life. Fast forward to two years ago when the rams played the bengals in the Super Bowl, I rooted for the Bengals and ended up really liking the team and players. also, I can’t stand all the “life long” chiefs fans in St. Louis now.
Oh God that's gotta be hell
Hey we're in the same boat except I'm from Western Kentucky exactly 3 hours from both St Louis and Cincy. So I started cheering for Cincy when the Rams left. It also helps my wife is from NKY
Lol the "Greater Cincinnati Area" from NKY myself. I love it, it cracks me up some people in this area are like, yeah I'm basically from Cincinnati
Lol my wife just says Northern KY. But it's hard to blame y'all because no one has ever heard of Park Hills, KY and everyone has heard of Cincinnati. Also, culturally, NKY is more Cincinnati than KY
Chad Johnson when I was in high school.
When I was in middle school, I had a crush on someone who was from Maryland and regularly wore Ravens merch. This crush was not mutual, and out of spite, I watched the 2014, week 8 game between the Bengals and Ravens and rooted against the Ravens. I knew nothing about football prior to that moment and literally spent the week leading up to it learning the rules of football and watching people play Madden in order to have any clue wtf was going on. To my family, my sudden desire to watch a random-ass Bengals game on the basis of "I really dislike the Ravens" was weird since I would regularly talk about hating sports prior to that moment (and regularly bashed the Bengals on the basis of they were the local team, and I didn't like hearing people talk about them for some reason). I planned on that being the only Bengals game I ever watched, but a few weeks later, I was back for more and have been ever since. This also expanded to me becoming a Reds fan in 2015 since they're the local MLB team and later an FC Cincinnati fan (albeit not until last year since this time last year I thought the Reds would lose another hundred games and wanted something positive to look forward to haha)
Becoming a fan of sports in general and the Bengals specifically out of a spiteful crush is a new one. You learned to dance like that sarcastically?
Two routes; one destination. 1.) Like a lot of people; I used to spend way too much time on my Madden dynasty. Back then, my main was the Saints (Louisiana native), and my side team was always the Bengals. I literally made them BengaLSU. Drafting all the LSU players and letting them generally be my opponent in the Super Bowl every season. 2.) You probably figured this one out through the Louisiana native and making BengaLSU, but in one word: Burreaux. If I need to elaborate (and I’m talking about Joe so of course I do!), there has never been a NCAA quarterback that played with the ice that he did in that 2019 season. I made up my mind mid season that not only was this dude winning the Heisman and getting us a title, that he was going to continue on doing this, for the rest of his career. I knew that I was going to follow this upstanding young man wherever he went, and embrace and love that team and fan base. I couldn’t be happier. I love being a Bengals fan, I love this team, and I love this fan base. Let’s own this off season and make this next season ours. Who Dey!
The Who Dat to Who Dey pipeline
Louisiana native, too. Always a massive LSU fan but never watched much NFL. Joe made me a Bengals fan. I have the LSU Burreaux jersey and his rookie Bengals jersey!
Born into them and the reds. Although I will say I’m pretty indifferent on FC. Don’t dislike them but don’t really care
Yeah they're way too new. You have to earn my disappointment over 30+ years
Well they really showed us how much they belong to this city and our sports history by having a record setting season only to lose in the playoffs to our rivals who wear black and yellow. If that doesn’t earn your place in Cinci sports I don’t know what does.
FC?
FC Cincinnati, Cincinnati’s MLS team
I’m trying to get into them, but that emotional connection just isn’t there for me yet. I typically need to know the players pretty well before I start caring and consistently watching. However, I don’t often watch the games on tv because I don’t know the players. Kind of a chicken and egg situation
My first/high school boyfriend really wanted to get me into sports and encouraged me to "pick a football team" thinking it would make me more engaged. I picked the Bengals because I knew about Chad Ochocinco and thought he was hilarious, and because of the awesome uniforms/helmets. Fast forward 21 years and I'm still here! <3 My love for this team has just grown and grown and the past few years have brought me so much joy. It's so random being a Bengals fan that was born, raised, and still lives in the Los Angeles area though lol. Lots of "why the Bengals", "are you from Ohio", "was your dad a Bengals fan" questions haha. But nope. Just a girl trying to impress her high school boyfriend by getting into sports and still loving that team decades later. I'm now the proud owner of a signed Ochocinco helmet that I bought with my gambling winnings when I made a longshot bet on them to go to the Superbowl. He was a 49ers fan btw. EW. Really dodged a bullet.
https://preview.redd.it/t60pa6bh22kc1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2047bb96af64f78aa213560b6f5562599eeb993d Getting one of these out of a vending machine. 1983-ish.
Joe Burrow bandwagon
Grew up in SE ohio in a split Bengals/Browns/Steelers area. The Bengals had the coolest helmets and i was already a Reds fan because of my mom.
Hey me too, respect. Definitely more Steelers and Browns fans though.
Same here! I describe it to people as the Bermuda triangle of teams that hate each other.
Lived in Cincinnati all my life
I thought this would be the most obvious answer but I'm surprised how many out of state fans there are
Hopped on the Bandwagon when Boomer and the boys went to the Super Bowl. I was 12.
My mom had a huge crush on Boomer. 😂
I'm from Baton Rouge....I think you can all guess what my answer is lol
Going to games with my uncle when I was around 8 years old. Jeff Blake, Carl Pickens, Corey Dillon
Being from New Jersey, of course it made total sense becoming a Bengals fan back in 1977 at age 4.
I liked tigers when I was little 🐅
wow i’m so glad there’s another hahaha. i was like 9 and loved tigers and then seeing ochocinco sold me completely
I thought they had the coolest kit, also I like tigers.... I am a simple beast. Im in the UK so I dont have any geographical allegiance. So I just picked the one I liked and stuck with it.
Glutton for punishment
Tecmo Super Bowl
Time served
Tee higgins
I married into it
My husband!
Bengals were my dad’s favorite AFC North team (he’s from Indy so was a long-time Colts fan). I would watch the games with him as a kid and after he passed, I stopped following football for awhile. Then, I met my partner who’s from Cincy and she converted me to a full-on Bengals fan ever since. She also brought me to my first NFL game and bought me a Chase jersey for Christmas last year. I’ll forever be a Bengals fan.
Started dating my girlfriend during the Bengals 2021 Super Bowl run season. I’m from FL and a Bucs fan she’s from Cinci/ Northern KY. Our first date was to Paul Brown stadium and between Joe Burrow airing it out and her looking gorgeous with the Roebling in the background I’ve been hooked on both the team and her ever since. The Bucs are still my number one team though. I move to Cinci in 2 days also with her. Im very excited to say my first WHO Dey as a resident!!
Tiger striped helmets and orange were great as a 3 year old. My favorite number was also 9, and Carson was at QB.
I’m from WV. EVERYONE there is a Steelers fan. I didn’t want to jump on a bandwagon and like them just because everyone else did. The Bengals were actually the closest NFL team to me geographically.
Always been a die hard Peyton Manning fan, when he retired I needed a team who had orange in it and a team who wasn’t far away for me to watch a game.
My dad was the manager of visiting team locker room, now my cousin does it. But I grew up around it and going to spinny field on Saturdays watching them practice. I was on the inside for awhile.
Tiger stripes. When I was a little kid I saw a Bengals pennant on the wall of a card shop and said “look mom Bengals!” My mom says it was my first sentence. No one knew why I knew them as we are from Spokane, Washington. The card shop owner sent me home with a bunch of Seahawks stuff in an attempt to convert me, but it was too late. I was a Bengals fan, and have stayed a Bengals fan for 35 years now.
James Brooks and David Fulcher, that and growing up in a suburb of Cincinnati. Who Dey!!!
I've lived in Cincinnati my entire life, but the first time I remember ever paying any attention to the Bengals was that my dad was excited for the AFC championship game in 1982. I would have been 9 at the time. That was the Freezer Bowl, And I remember that our furnace broke down that day and we were huddled together in the living room under blankets watching the game. I didn't pay much attention to football for a few years after that, but I really got into it in the 1988 season when the Bengals went back to the Super Bowl.
Third generation fan. My dad was a kid when Cincy got the franchise. My grandpa grew up obsessed with the reds and passed that to me as well. He naturally adopted the bengals for himself and my dad. Raising two more bengals sons to continue the family tradition.
My family was never into football since they were immigrants from Belarus. I was born in NY and started learning about football through elementary school reading books/sports magazines about the NFL. The Bengals stood out to me with their uniforms. I started watching the bengals during the Chad Ochocinco/Carson Palmer era. WHO DEY FOR LIFE!
1. Cool colour scheme 2. Overseas so just supported what my fav American youtubers (Markiplier, Lordminion777 and Muyskerm) supported which was the bengals 3. Ohio
Well. Around 8 to 10 years old. Grandpa and my dad were bengal fans. Well Paul brown fans who became bengal fans. I started watching on the run to Super Bowl 16. My grandfather and dad never got to see them win a Super Bowl. My dad died 3 months after the lose to the rams so now I’m hoping I break the curse
Kenny Anderson and Anthony Munoz.
Growing up in Dayton my uncle said cheer for them and o been fan for over 30 years
My grandfather had season tickets for 25 years. Even though Cincy is just a part time home for me - he took me every so often when I came in town to go see the Bengals play. Had some epic experiences in the pouring rain and one special experience after a major snowfall when there was so much snow my feet were just encased in it. Boomer and Ickey were my favorite players as a kid - I remember wanting to buy Ickey Sticky buns at Buskins. I miss those days with my grandfather seeing the Bengals play. I live far from Cincy and as I got older it became tough to come in town when the team was also in town. I watch every week on TV but hadn’t been to a game in person since the Riverfront days - about 20 + years ago. For Christmas I treated my dad and my 9 year old son (who is a huge Bengals fan now) to a game at Paycor. We had a blast.
Grew up in Kentucky but cheered for the Eagles as a kid because of McNabb. When he left and they signed Vick, I knew I couldn't support them anymore (i was like 14 tbh), so I switched to the "local" team which was the Bengals
Die hard LSU fan…so Joe Burreaux and Jamarr
(I was NOT football fan before my brother got me into it) my brother who is obsessed with football had me pick a team when he was getting really into it, and so I picked by far what I thought was the worst team. And I promised him that I would watch the first Super Bowl that the Bengals made it to… I made that promise in 2021.
Carson Palmer era. Housh, Johnson, Henry, Ochoa, then it continued I liked dalton. We kept getting these gingers. I’m from so cal followed Carson from usc.
Lived in Cincinnati a few years when I was young, including 1st grade. My teacher at that time was an ex Bengal cheerleader. So she naturally brought her Cincinnati sports Fandom to the classroom, and I quickly became a bengals fan because of that.
The uniform (UK)
AJ McCarron.
I was working at a sports bar in college. Grew up raised by a die-hard eagles fan and a patriot fan. My high school was pretty good at football and I really enjoyed the games but never followed the sport outside of that. All the regulars joked that I was a bandwagon fan as I would switch between the few shirts I owned from both teams (it was the year they played against each other in the super bowl) and a couple more teams I picked up from girls who graduated and left behind shirts for us to take. I was listening/watching a podcast that was put on by one of my favorite singers (Andy Biersack of Black Veil Brides) and he would constantly talk about the Bengals. I can't remember if it was 2018 or 2019 (but I know Dalton was still the quarterback) I figured if I was going to root for a team, I should at least know a little bit about them, and since they weren't very good I wouldn't be called a bandwagoner. Shortly after I decided to become a fan they stopped talking about them on the show 😂 but it made football way more entertaining for me and getting Burrow shortly after definitely made it easier 😂
OK, full disclosure here: I grew up in the Silicon Valley area, and so was well on my way to becoming a member of Da Raiduh Nation. My Dad would take us to a couple games a season. Most of you guys reading this are prolly to young to remember, but the Bengals used to have a pretty good LB in the 70s named Bill Bergey. He was my uncle by marriage. So when the Bengals came to town he'd leave us a few tickets at Will Call. I even got to go into the Bengals lockerroom once. Big time thrill for a kid! So even though I continued rooting for the Silver & Black I adopted Cincy as my "other" favorite team. I continue to root for them now. It's even more a bonus since they're in the same division as the Steelers, whom of course I have loathed since childhood.
Going to my grandparents every Sunday for dinner and my grandpa always having the game on, Chad Johnson is also a big reason because his personality and antics really engage you as a kid lol
I drafted Ja’Marr Chase on my fantasy team. I am a Patriots-Texans fan but I do keep an eye out for the Bengals cause they got the Glizzy Gobbler
I was like 3 years old and tigers were my favorite animal And here I am now
Joe burrow honestly was a bills fan until I saw that guy play and ever since never stop believing
already was a Reds fan + cool leaping tiger logo when I was a kid
Saw the bengal logo as kid and I was like “ooh a tiger that’s cool”. That was about 10 years and here we are today.
Birf
Grew up in Cincinnati.
My dad
It was a cold Valentine’s Day back in 1982 my Mom told my dad yes and 9 months later she birthed a Bengals fan in Bethesda
Birth. My grandparents went to the ‘82 and ‘89 Super Bowls. My east side Catholic elementary had an all-school mass or prayer service (I was in kindergarten) for the Bengals the week of the ‘89 Super Bowl during which my kindergarten class performed the Ickey Shuffle on the altar. I performed at a preseason game during the depressing paper bag years with my high school marching band. I went to HS with the kids of former Bengals players…
The jets
I was born in Cincinnati.
i was born into it, i had bengals themed birthday parties and my dad had a bengals themed room in our old house but we moved so now the bengals decorated room is the garage
Born in NKY in 1962.
Birth
Having better helmets than the Browns. I moved to Ohio when I was a kid and based my entire fandom on the uniforms
I got sick of watching the patriots win every year and I loved watching BenJarvis Green-Ellis play. It also played hand in hand with the only Ginger QB in the league actually doing anything at the time. Made for one hell of a ride as a fan
MY CITY!!
My dads cousin
Born into it. Grew up in SE Indiana and it was either colts or Bengals. Who roots for a baby horse?
Ka Jana Carter; was already a Reds fan. I was a mid-west transplant as the family is from New York but never got into New York sports teams etc.
At 6 years old my Grandpa told me I had to pick a team. He was a Browns fan so to make things interesting I picked the Bengals... Also at that age Tigers were my favorite animal. thirty-something years later still a fan..
Stemmed from an off-and on curiosity surrounding American Soccer thanks to Blue Mountain State and Friday Night Lights. Then I learned about the eastern state of Ohio who I thought would be closer to Iowa than Canuckistan. Then I LARPed as a Buckeye from Colebrook, Ashtabula county for 2 years on an MMA forum filled with miserable old Gen-Xers, so in order to polish this alter-ego as to not blow my cover, I started resarching about local cultures, customs and laws, firearms, USPSA multigun, my alter ego's half german half polish ancestry, Methodism and lastly, watching the NFL.
In a tale as old as Abe Simpson's onion belt, I switched teams, shedding my former Foreskins for tiger striped ones when I moved out here about, oh, just in time for Dave Shula's "Era Of Innocent Error" and a playoff appearance drought that lasted until 2005.
Touring Paul Brown (Paycor) while on vacation. I was absolutely sold.
I was a kid in elementary who really liked tigers, really benefitted me when a SoCal kid ended having a SoCal QB be their longest QB (Carson Palmer)
Local tv stations show their games so I watched them as a kid
Boomer Esiason
Birth
[удалено]
I was born into it.
I'm from Cincinnati, it's what is
Ickey Woods
I was just getting into football when they appeared on hard knocks, love at first sight
Tigers have always been my favorite animal when I was young. I'm not sure if madden was on Nintendo but I either played it on that or Playstation 1 against my brother. I would always choose their team because of their uniform. I'm also not sure how the Bengals were truly around that time but I could never beat my brother with them. Then again I was a 6 or 7 year old playing a 15 year old in madden. Once I got older I took football more seriously in the Dalton Era learned the songs and chants and became an active fan.
I’m an NJ kid. I grew up obsessed with tigers and the color orange. As soon as I saw those tiger stripe helmets in the Sears Christmas catalog it was over. That was 30 years ago.
Only been into football for a couple years now, but it was due to a college teacher having bengals stuff in his classroom and i just latched onto the team
Totally random 🤣 In elementary the mascot caught my attention. Was a huge fan of Tigers
Joe burrow
Ken Anderson and the 1981Bengals.
Raised in Cincy as a kid. Discovered football while living there. This was 1981. Remember watching that first SB w/the Niners in the basement of our old house with my Dad and his friends and my brothers. lol Been loyal to my Bengals ever since!
Born into it
My Uncle took me to my first game against the Cardinals but I didn't really start following them until that season with T.O. and Chad and the Hard Knocks season that Chris Perry was on. So a mixture of my Uncle, living in Cincinnati, Hard Knocks, amd the dynamic diva duo of T.O. and Chad.
Being born in Cincinnati
Birth
Jon Kitna in the early 2000's, Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Joe Mixon, and Joe Burrow
When I was in elementary school we always played kickball. About the fourth or fifth grade we were integrated with another school. So instead of having one black kid in the whole school we had several in each class. At recess they played football so I started playing football and fell in love with football. The closest pro team was the Bengals so I became a Bengals fan. Dad was also a Bengals fan. He used to be a Browns fan but that changed in 68.
Born into it and season by season convincing my dad it’s our year.
Jerome Simpson front flip
Chad Ochocinco
Terence Newman. Grew up watching him with the Cowboys and when Cincinnati signed him I followed him and it just stuck.
I like orange stripe death kitty
As a kid I liked everything that was terrible, which is why I started loving them in the late 90s lol. Plus the jerseys, I was like 7 and living in Buffalo lmao
Grew up in NKY, was 8 when they made their run to Super Bowl 23
Ken Anderson sticking his hands in his pants in that AFC Championship game.
M uncle and Boomer Esiason
Vikings fan mainly but Bengals are my AFC team since hiring Zac Taylor and drafting burrow (I’m from NE)
I got it from my Momma.
Took a class about sports marketing. The school colors were orange and black. Felt like I was representing my school in 2007. Been with it every since. Let me tell you, Bengals fans are in the weirdest places.
I’m a ginger born on Halloween. Orange and black are kinda my thing.
3rd grade. 2007-8ish time period. Huge crush on my teacher. She was a bengals fan. The rest is history.
Hard Knocks back in 2013. Being in australia there wasn’t a lot of NFL around but I watched a few seasons of that (I think previous 2) but got really into the bengals season. Mainly from Gio driving him mother in laws mini van around. 10 years of misery deep here
My best friend is a lifelong Bengals fan and football is so important to her that my partner and I got invested so we could enjoy it all together! The Bengals/Rams Super Bowl was the first game I watched in earnest, and I’ve been following the Bengals closely since. I’ve absolutely fallen in love with the team, the guys, and the fans who are so dedicated! I used to think football and sports in general was dumb, but now I’ve seen the light and understand why it’s so important to people.
When the Raiders left LA back in 94 I dropped them like a bad habit. Years passed in SoCal and no expansion team. Got tired of waiting so in the late 2000’s I said “I’m gonna go for a team that people don’t jump on their bandwagon. And that it’s at least known for always having good defense over the years”. With that said, WhoDey!
The blond bomber. Boomer Esiason!
My grandpa, and ocho proposing to a cheerleader.
Hardcore USC fan. Followed Carson Palmer once he got drafted. The rest is history. WHO DEY!
I didn’t ask to be a bengals fan. I was born into this heartbreak. Though I’d rather die a bengals fan with no rings than have been born a Steeler, raven or chief. 🤮🤮🤮
Joseph Lee Burrow.
I’m 14 but I was raised in cincy so I was a bengals fan but for most of my life we didn’t really get anywhere so I didn’t care much after burrow came I was a much bigger fan so that’s my answer
Living in Joe burrow’s hometown
Use to be alot of Cleveland fandom around here. That changed real quick the night of the draft. Town was covered in signs til just recently, just a few still up I've seen mostly businesses. The kid had quite the effect on this little place.
Jerome Simpson flip td. That got me not just into Bengals but into NFL.
My first team will always be the Chiefs, as I am a KC native and lived thru the shit years. With that being said I am a 20+ year Cincinnatian by marriage(although I will never understand Skyline Chili), and always root for the Bengals.....unless they're playing KC.
My dad 💛💛💛
I was Ten yrs old and was watching the game with my father and I saw the most beautiful blonde man on the field. I've never looked back. That beautiful blonde was none other than Boomer!
the stripes on the logo
From Montreal Canada.. I saw a video of young Chad Johnson saying he eats McDonalds daily and then witnessed a few wild celebrations and I was instantly hooked. Been with you guys since.
From montreal Canada. Two words… Chad Johnson.
When I was little we were at the Mall of America and my brother and dad bought hats of the teams they liked and I wanted to be different and thought the tiger was cool so I bought the hat. Been a fan ever since
My father and his father before him.
Just got into the NFL recently. My university (UST) here in the Philippines is associated with tigers during Collegiate games and the team is the closest thing to tigers. I’m also in the Joe Burrow bandwagon as he’s one of the players who beat Mahomes.
Joe burrow
Born in Kentucky about 30 minutes from Cincinnati and they were the closest team. My parents are browns fans lol
Born in the Jungle
I was watching football with my dad when I was little. I was a big fan of tigers, so naturally I chose the team with a tiger theme.
Not as crazy a some, but im French, living in Italy, lots of fantasy football cause of madden, only i always watched the 1st half of the SB cause here it STARTS at 12:30 am, and well monday work you know. Somehow i was off the monday of 2022 SB, watched the entire game for the first time, fell in love with the Bengals. Since then, converted my kids and wife. Patiently waiting for them to go oversea for a play. Also Joe.
i grew up in seattle but i became a fan when i was 6 because cats are my favorite animal and my name starts with B so a huge B for a logo really drew me to this team. still love my hometown seahawks but nothing tops cincy 🐯🐯
Superbowl XXIII, was 6 years old and thought it was cool af everybody getting all hyped up , showed what a big deal it was , those playoffs are the first games I can really remember watching, cried after Montana to Taylor
The Bengals onesie my parents put me in to bring me home from christ hospital
My older brother said I look like someone who would be a Bengals fan. He is a Packers fan
nfl blitz 2000
Burrow and Chase
Carson Palmer. I’m from the Los Angeles area and when I was like 10-11 he was the QB at USC and my grandpa had season tickets and took me to all the games. Fell in love with Carson almost immediately and since he went #1 overall to the Bengals I’ve been a Bengals fan ever since. Can’t stop won’t stop!
Aussie here and I followed Balmain Tigers NRL in Sydney. My boyfriend early 80s was a 49ers fan so I decided to support Bengals.. no regrets …. Still have my merch I bought in the US in 1990…. 🩷 Oh and I also support Cincinnati Reds… ❤️❤️
I was born into it. Born and raised in Cincy. It was never even a question. 💪🏽💪🏽🐅🐅🐅🐅🐅
I’ll never forget. Corey Dillon’s rookie rushing record game in 2000. I was 15 and never gave a damn about the Bengals, but I watched that game and was so into it I never looked back.
Birth
Grew up in Greater Cincinnati, NKY specifically. My grandmother was an original season ticket holder from the first season. Everyone in my family who watches football is a Bengals fan. We all watched them lose the Super Bowl together in 2022. It was my 86 year old grandmother's 3rd loss. She was at the other two games in the 80s and also the Freezer Bowl. I hope we can get a championship while she's still alive.
My dad, but also AJ Green
Joey B and I have absolutely no shame of jumping on the bandwagon
Southeast Ohio made me, it was the way. Choices were Bengals, browns, or steelers, most of us here made the correct pick, the odd few that didnt have no excuse. Didn't wanna disappoint the old man back then and have never regretted it no matter how hard some of those years were. Still have the small wall of his Bengal beer collection in moms basement. Bengals and Reds for as long as I can remember. Now that our former neighborhood hometown hero is helping lead the charge makes it that much sweeter.
I am from Turkey and the first football game I watched was Bengals v Rams superbowl !! I was sorry about all bengals team and since that day my bengals love constantly increased. I love our mascot, our jerseys, our colors, our helmets... Man i love Bengals. WHO DEY !!!
Being from the middle of Nebraska I never had a "local" NFL team so I didn't really pay attention to it, only cfb. Before the 2021 season I decided I needed pick a team after the suffering from being a Husker fan and the constant disappointment for the last 20 years. Decided to be a Bengals fan because I always liked Zac when he was at NE. Not to mention Stanley Morgan as well as the Burrows' NE connections.
I was a broncos fan as a kid, family is nothing but cowboys fans, but as i got older I fell off of football, then after i got really into competitive smash bros, I started seeing Burrow LSU highlights as he was about to be drafted to the Bengals on twitter, and I loved seeing him play, and I then learned the real competitive strategies football has to offer and how it can be translated to smash and something just clicked again and I fell in love with football all over again, and then little by little watching Burrow play turned me into a fan especially because he also plays smash and is into nintendo in general, and so ive been a fan since Burrow started and he reignited my passion for watching football and its nice to watch football with my family again and actually be into it. If it wasnt for Burrow, i dont think I would be so into the sport like I am now.
Joe burrow. I’ve always loved college ball, LSU specifically, but never really got into the NFL. I just so happened to start getting into it the year before Joe was drafted. I started dating my partner then and he loves all sports and is always watching, especially the NFL due to fantasy football. When Joe went to the Bengals that solidified they were my team.
I saw Joe Burrow and fell in love.
I am from North Carolina and cared very little about football when I was a small child but fell in love with the helmet and jersey.. the rest is history. My grandfather is a browns fan, my grandmother is a steelers fan.. didn’t realize what it meant when I was a young kid.
Newer fan. I grew up in a Raiders household (Dad) in NWO most of the rest of my family are Lions fans but I never really gave a whole lot to either teams. Moved from NW Ohio to Central Ohio stopped watching Lions games. My son started playing peewee football last two years so we needed a professional team to root for. Huge Detroit Tigers fan so will never root for anything Cleveland and we watched the Bengals playoff run up into the Super Bowl and it stuck. We love this team! (My buddy has been die hard Bengals fan as well he may have convinced us to hop on also)
Birth
Family curse
I was a bears fan growing up. I moved a state closer to Ohio and south, further away from the bears, who were terrible and I decided to choose a new team. Naturally, I chose the 6-9-1 Bengals (2016), who missed the playoffs, because I thought Andy Dalton was cool.