WHO DEY!
The Johnson that started it all!
Dad
WHODEY!!
I am a second-generation Cincinnati Bengals fan. My father was a fan and indoctrinated his wife and
children to the club. Each Fall, we began to gear up and plan Sundays to gather at our parent’s house to
watch the Bengals. Some Sundays, I may have cut out of church a bit early.
Each Johnson, old and young, wore a Bengals jersey, sweatshirt, t-shirt or simply black and orange. I still
have a headband of tiger ears and a vintage shirt or two I bring out for gamedays.
In all my time as a fan, there were only one or two seasons I disconnected from the game and my
Bengals. In protest of the National Football League and Roger Goodell for the treatment of Colin
Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49er’s, I didn’t watch any professional football games. Kaepernick was
shunned and eventually out of the NFL because he took a knee the singing of National Anthem before
games in protest of police brutality and racial inequity in America.
The Cincinnati Bengals have made four appearances in AFC Championships and three appearances in the
Big Dance (Super Bowl), but never won. I vaguely remember the AFC Championship, the Freezer Bowl in
1982 better than I remember their appearance in the Super Bowl.
The Bengal’s second appearance was in Super Bowl XXIII in Miami, Florida which was clouded in the no-
show of running back, Stanley Wilson who relapsed into a cocaine habit the eve of the game.
Super Bowl LVI in 2021 was the last appearance the Bengals made in the final competition but lost to the Rams.
Watching the Bengals was always a time our family would be together. We would laugh and scream at the TV
and each other for 3 hours watching the game.
Equally as exciting was the gameday menu. Food would flood the kitchen counters and overflowed to the back room with drinks in the cooler outside. Chips, dip, wings, Pepsi, lemonade and of course beer wereall menu standards.
If it was a playoff or Super Bowl, Dad made sure he had a huge shrimp platter and I would make my famous seafood gumbo.
Let’s not forget my mom’s salami rolls made with sliced dried beef instead of salami filled with cream cheese loaded with garlic and onion power.
For the last two years, the excitement for my home team has been over the top. I miss being able to
share this excitement on game days with my Dad. I know he is looking down wearing his Bengals cap just
as excited as if here were here with us. I remember the sparkle in his eyes as he watched those close
games the Bengal’s narrowly lost and some they narrowly won. I can only imagine how excited he would
be to watch Burrow, Mixon and Chase on the field in Paul Brown Stadium.
I love all the energy and excitement Cincinnati has around the team’s success. The positive press and the
national attention the team is getting is well deserved. There have been some fans that have got on the
bus after years of insulting the team for decades. That’s okay.
This Bengals roster is cohesive, young, and hungry. They get me excited! I’m ready for next season but I
have so time to go; six months at least!
I don’t care about the many years I endured hearing Boo Dey and the name calling - the Bungals; I will
forever remain a loyal Cincinnati Bengals fan! WHO DEY!!!
This blog post is deidcated to my dad. I love and miss you…WHODEY!!!
