Today is the day! … although not just any day. It’s Super Bowl Sunday! … although not just any Super Bowl. The Cincinnati Bengals are the “home team” for Super Bowl LVI, and there’s something uniquely sweet about the Bengals making it this far. Stay with me for a moment — even if not a sports fan, if you will. I indeed believe this is about far more than sports. As one who lived in the Queen City for 25 years — whose sons grew up there — there exists a vibe about being a Bengals fan, that outside of the Cincinnati faithful, one may not truly understand.
It’s different. It’s deep. No one ever searches for “America’s Team” and finds the Cincinnati Bengals anywhere near the list. Primetime moments are few. They’re not known for their winning. In fact, over the course of their 54 year history, they’ve been known for many things on and off the field that they’d like to forget.
What’s it like to be a Bengals fan? What’s been hard? Hear from a chorus of Bengals fans…
“The hardest part is all these years of disappointment… No respect… It feels like we’ve been the joke of the NFL… Everyone’s punchline…
It hasn’t been fun… Outside of Cincinnati — and sometimes even in Cinti — it just hasn’t been cool to be a fan… People didn’t take us seriously…
Low expectations for so many years… Always a gaping hole somewhere… Such a defeatist mentality… potential has always felt squandered... I never believed we could win an important game…
A roller coaster with too many years of disappointing outcomes… My hopes have always been dashed… Always watching us struggle… No one, including our fans, thought we were a legitimate contender for as long as I’ve been alive…
Rough… Painful… Embarrassing… Frustrating… So frustrating…”
The emotions of a diehard Bengals fan run deep. As one chimed in, “I felt like I was loyal but the team was not.” It’s hard to be a fan of a small market team that doesn’t have a historical track record of victory, prudent team management, nor consistent, individual integrity. As another opined, “It’s easy to be a fan of the Steelers or Tom Brady. It takes guts to remain a steadfast Bengals fan.”
Prior to this year, the Bengals last won a playoff game 31 years ago. This was expected to be year #32. But the unexpected occurred. Behind great leadership, talented skill players, and a changed culture in which players hold one another accountable, really like each other, and realize what they can do together, the Cincinnati Bengals find themselves both gleefully and confidently playing in Super Bowl LVI. Call it surprising. Call it unheard of. Call it one of the current best stories in sports. Hear it once more from the fans…
How does it feel to be in Super Bowl 56?
“AMAZING! … Flat out amazing!… The feeling is joyful and huge… I feel like I’m in some alternative universe… Really great… Awesome!… I am SHOCKED!… It feels like a dream… Very excited!… It’s a big, BIG deal!… Fantastic… So happy!… I still have to pinch myself… Surreal… I’m so proud… Incredible… Doesn’t seem possible… It doesn’t feel real… Unbelievable… Spectacular!… I love this team!… My heart can’t believe it… So fun!… I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I root for a team that’s actually one of the best in the league… This feels like full circle and let me tell you, it feels good…”
This is only a snippet; let me add that the “amazing’s” were tenfold.
But allow me to share an additional, developing aspect that also may go unnoticed outside the Cincinnati faithful. In a cultural moment where too often we find things to fight about — and too frequently focus on what we don’t have in common — note what’s happening as a result of the Bengals unexpected, exuberant success…
“I love the feel of the city… what a sense of community!… Seeing the way the city has rallied around the team is unbelievable… fans from all over the world are connecting… genuine friendships… I feel the pulse of the city begin to beat in synchronicity with one another… Loving the energy of the greater Cincy-area with schools closing and challenges to raise money for food banks… I’m so proud of how this has rallied the area! … A real sense of pride in the community!… It feels like an incredible way to bring Cincinnati together after 2 years of depressing Covid issues… celebrities and Instagram influencers are announcing they are rooting for the Bengals… It’s exciting to see the country come together to root on our guys… It makes it that much sweeter… I couldn’t be more proud to say I’m a Bengals fan!”
Let us be sure to acknowledge that there is another team with loyal fans who may be victorious this night. I wish the Los Angeles Rams well. And I think that reveals one more admirable aspect of the Bengals sweet, unexpected season. Maybe because of their track record, maybe because this was so unexpected, maybe because of the years of frustration and even embarrassment, one doesn’t hear a lot of offense nor insult amid Bengals fandom; there’s no “Hey, Rams, take that” or “You’re going down!” There just isn’t any hostile focus on the other team.
There is simply a humble, joy-filled love and appreciation for a team that has given its fans something they never expected nor felt they deserved. Indeed, this is about far more than sports. Go Bengals, go.
Respectfully…
AR