Cincinnati Pro Football History

In 1933, the NFL granted the city another franchise, this time called the Cincinnati Reds. They competed in the league for two seasons before folding. The Reds finished with a 3-6-1 record and fourth place in the league's Western Division in 1933. In 1934, they lost their first eight games before suspending operations. The St. Louis Gunners, an independent team, joined the NFL by buying the Cincinnati franchise and went 1-2 the last three weeks of the season.

It was a third team, however one which was not a member of the NFL that eventually proved to be the closest link to today's modern-era team.

In 1937, a team known as the Cincinnati Bengals was formed as a member of the rival American Football League. It was that team's nickname which was later adopted by today's NFL franchise.

The 1937 Bengals finished with a 2-4-2 record in their first year, but the AFL folded after the season. The Bengals continued as an independent team in 1938, playing three NFL teams that year. They beat the Chicago Bears, 17-13, and the Pittsburgh Pirates, 38-0, and tied the Chicago Cardinals, 7-7.

In 1939, the Bengals joined a new AFL, finishing in second place with a 6-2 record. But again, the league folded after the season.

Once again in 1940, another new AFL emerged, and again the Bengals joined. They recorded 1-7-0 and 1-5-2 marks in 1940 and 1941, respectively. That AFL suffered the fate of the two AFLs before it, folding after the 1941 season as the United States entered World World II. Only this time, the Bengals folded along with it.

Pro football returned to Cincinnati 26 years later in 1967 when Paul Brown headed an ownership group which landed an expansion franchise in the modern-era American Football League. Brown, a Pro Football Hall of Famer who founded and coached the Cleveland Browns from 1946-62, picked the name Bengals for the new team "to give it a link with past professional football in Cincinnati."

Hundreds of names were suggested by fans in an effort to name the new Cincinnati team, the most popular being Buckeyes. It was rejected to avoid confusion with the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The Bengals began play in the AFL in 1968. The AFL merged with the NFL in 1970, and the Bengals have been members ever since.

1938 Cincinnati Bengals

Planning for the Cincinnati Bengals franchise began three full years before the team began playing in the American Football League in 1968. Paul Brown, who had enjoyed exceptional success as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns for 17 seasons before departing in 1962, had the urge to get back into pro football. In 1965, he met with then-Governor Jim Rhodes and the two agreed the state could accommodate a second pro football team.

A year later in 1966, Cincinnati's city council approved the construction of 60,389-seat Riverfront Stadium, which was scheduled for completion by 1970. The next year, a group headed by Brown was awarded an American Football League franchise that would begin play in 1968. Brown named his team the Bengals in recognition of previous Cincinnati pro football franchises with the same name in the 1930s and 1940s. Brown himself returned to the coaching ranks on the Bengals sidelines for the first eight years. He retired after the 1975 season but continued to serve as general manager until his death in 1991. Mike Brown then succeeded his father as general manager.

The 1968 Bengals won their first two home games in 28,000-seat Nippert Stadium against Denver and Buffalo and finished with a 3-11 record, the most an expansion team of the 1960s recorded. Cincinnati improved enough in 1969 that Brown was named the AFL Coach of the Year. In 1970, they captured the AFC Central division title and thus became the first expansion team to win a championship of any kind in just three years.

In 1971, the Bengals selected Ken Anderson, a quarterback from little-known Augustana College, in the third round of the draft. For the next 16 seasons, Anderson was the key man of the Cincinnati offense and a four-time AFC individual passing champion. Cincinnati won its second AFC Central championship in 1973 and a wild-card berth in the 1975 playoffs in Brown's final year as coach. The Bengals missed the playoffs for the next five seasons but won big in 1981, the year the Bengals unveiled their new uniforms with tiger-striped helmets, jerseys and pants. Cincinnati, with Forrest Gregg as coach, won the AFC Central with a 12-4 record and defeated San Diego 27-7 in the AFC championship game. However, they lost the Super Bowl XVI showdown with the San Francisco 49ers, 26-21.

The Bengals had a second shot at the Super Bowl following the 1988 season when, under Coach Sam Wyche and quarterback Boomer Esiason, they improved from the dismal 4-12 record in 1987 to a 12-4 regular-season record. They then defeated Buffalo 21-10 for the AFC championship. But in Super Bowl XXIII, they lost 20-16 to the 49ers on a last-minute touchdown pass by Joe Montana.

  The first Bengal club, like most expansion teams, was composed mainly of untested rookies, free agents, and rejects from other franchises in the league. Paul Brown began building the team by trading two draft choices to the Miami Dolphins for quarterback John Stofa. Brown then selected 40 players from other AFL clubs in the allocation draft, followed by 45 selections in the college draft. Before and during training camp in Wilmington, Brown rounded out his club with free agents and players picked up off the waiver wire.

  The Bengals were welcomed to the world of pro football with a 38-14 loss to Kansas City Chiefs at Nippert Stadium in the first preseason game. After losing to close contest to Denver and Buffalo, the Bengals defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 19-3 for their first victory, and then closed the campaign with a win over the New York Jets. The preseason ended with a 2-3 record.

  By the time the preseason ended, the Bengals had one of the youngest rosters in pro football history. There were seven rookie starters on offense and four on defense with another rookie handling the punting and place kicking duties.

  The regular season began on September 6 with a 29-13 loss to the Chargers in San Diego. The very next week, however, the Bengals rebounded to defeat the Denver Bronco’s 24-10 in the home opener at Nippert Stadium on the campus of University of Cincinnati. and then downed Buffalo 34-23, running their record to 2-1 a remarkable feat for a first year expansion team.

  Unfortunately, the euphoria did not last long, as the Bengals lost their next seven games. These included three tough losses; 10-7 to Denver, 24-22 to Miami and 16-9 to Kansas City. The losing streak ended with an impressive win over the Dolphins in Miami for the Bengals first road victory. The Cincinnati club lost the final three contest of the season, though, to finish the year a 3-11. No first year team had ever won more, so the year could hardly be called a disappointment.

  There were several pleasant surprises. Paul Robinson, a third round draft choice with only one year of collegiate experience, led the AFL in rushing with 1,023 yards, and was named rookie-of-the-year. Bob Trumpy, a twelfth-round choice who had been out of football for two years, led the Bengals in receiving with 37 catches for 639 yards. The defense also played remarkably well, allowing 329 points-sixth best among the ten teams in the AFL.

  The biggest disappointment was the performance of John Stofa, who was lost his quarterback job to rookies Dewey Warren and Sam Wyche.

  Cook was an immediate sensation. He was named the most valuable in the College All-star Game during the first week of August, and then after reporting to Wilmington with training camp half over, he beat out John Stofa, Dewey Warren and Sam Wyche for the starting quarterback job.

  In the first regular season game, Cook threw two touchdown passes in a 27-21 win over the Dolphins. The next week he tossed three scoring passes in a 34-20 defeat of the San Diego Chargers. Then, the Bengals stunned the Kansas City Chiefs 24-19 for a 3-0 start. Suddenly, the Bengals were the talk of pro football, and Cook was being favorly compared to Joe Namath.

  Unfortunately, Cook injured his throwing arm in Kansas City when tackled by Bobby Bell and Jerry Mays, and missed the next four games. The Bengals lost all four. Cook retuned November 2 and led the Bengals to a 31-17 win over the previously undefeated Oakland Raiders. The following week, the Blond Bomber threw four touchdowns passes in a 31-31 tie with the Oilers in Houston.

  The Bengals lost their last five games finishing 4-9-1, but it was an upbeat year. The club had the best record of any second year expansion team in history, and had found a quarterback. Futhermore, two of their victories were over the two best teams in the AFL, so it was obvious that the Bengals could play with anybody. Greg Cook’s arm was still hurting him when the season ended, but it was thought that his valuable throwing apparatus would return normal with six months rest. Cook’s accomplishments in 1969 included leading the AFL in passing and earned Rookie of the Year honors by passing for 1,854 yards

            Sam Wyche started the season at quarterback, however, and guided the Bengals to a 31-21 opening day victory over the Oakland Raiders at Riverfront. The win was followed, however by a six-game losing streak, The key game during that period was a 30-27 loss to the Browns. It was Paul Browns first appearance in Cleveland since he was fired by the Browns in 1962, and during that game Virgil Carter established himself as the starting quarterback.

            With a record of 1-6, the Benglas seemed to be more in contention for the number one draft choice than a division title. The losing streak ended with a 43-14 win over the Bills in Buffalo, followed by a rousing 14-10 win over the Browns. After wins over Pittsburgh and New Orleans, the Bengals were 5-6 and the tied for first place. 

  The Bengals remained tied for first by defeating the Chargers 17-14. The next week, the Browns lost to Dallas and the Bengals defeated Houston 30-20 to take sole possession of the top spot in the division. The championship was wrapped up in the final game with a 45-7 win over the Boston Patroits. The Bengals finished 8-6 one game ahead of Cleveland.

  The seven game winning streak ended in the first round of the playoffs. The Bengals were defeated by the eventual Super Bowl Champions Colts 17-0 in Baltimore.

  Of the seven losses, five were by four points or less. In three of them, the Bengals had the lead in the final two minutes, only to go down to defeat. It was a frustrating period, made even more so by a string of injuries, the most serious which was a snapped vertebra suffered by defensive back Ken Dyer in a 20-17 loss to Green Bay. It was a year before he regained the use of his arms and legs. The Bengals rebounded slightly with three wins over Denver, Houston, and San Diego. The victory over the Chargers was by a 31-0 score, the first shutout in Bengals history.

  The three wins were followed by three losses, to close the year at 4-10. It was not quite as bad as it looked, however. Six of the losses were by four points or less, and the club actually out scored the opposition 284 to 265. The Bengals also developed two impressive rookies in Vernon Holland and Ken Anderson.

  With Ken Anderson leading the team as QB the Bengals started the year with four wins in the first five games. Included was an impressive 15-10 win over Pittsburgh in which Horst Muhlmann provided all the scoring with five field goals. The year began to sour in the sixth game when Muhlmann missed four field goals inside the 30 in a 15-12 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. After a win over Houston, the Bengals lost three in a row to fall to 5-5. With three victories in the final four games, the Bengals ended the season with an 8-6 record. In the final game of the year, the Bengals blasted Houston 61-17.

  Essex Johnson was the leading ball carrier with 825 rushing yards. Chip Myer was second in the AFC in receiving with 57 catches.

  The offense really didn’t get cranked up until late in the season, however. After 8 games, the Bengals were 4-4 three games behind first place Pittsburgh. The only Steelers defeat came at the hands of the Bengals by a 19-7 score at Riverfront.

  In the ninth week of the season, Horst Muhlmann booted a last second field goal which propelled the Bengals to a 16-13 victory in buffalo. The next Sunday, the Bengals won a heart stopping 20-14 victory over the Jets. After a 42-24 victory St Louis and a stunning 27-0 upset of Minnesota, who hadn’t been shut out since 1962, the Bengals were now tied for first place. The Steelers, having lost three in a row, had fallen into a tie with Cincinnati. Both were 8-4. Cleveland was also in the deadlock with a 7-3-2 record.

   In the second to last week the Bengals disposed of the Browns 34-17. The following week, Paul Brown’s outfit clinched the AFC central division championship with a 27-24 win over Houston. Both the Bengals and Steelers were 10-4, but Cincinnati was declared the winner on the basis of a better conference record (8-3 to 7-4)

  The Bengals moved into the playoffs against the defending Super Bowl champions of Miami, but lost 34-16 in the Orange Bowl. Nevertheless, the Cincinnati club appeared to be heading in the right direction with the best record in club history.

  The Cincinnati club was further decimated by a series of crippling injuries. Essex Johnson, Boobie Clark, Jim LeClair, Bob Johnson and Vernon Holland all missed several games.

  The Bengals got off to a good start before the injury jinx hit. The club won four of the first five games, including two over Cleveland. On November 10, the Bengals defeated the Steelers 17-10 at Riverfront with Ken Anderson completing 20-22 passes. That win left the Bengals with a 6-3 record-just one half game behind first place Pittsburgh. By then how, however, injuries had reduced Paul Brown’s club to a skeleton crew. The Bengals lost four of the last five contest to finishe 7-7. Despite the dis appointing break even year. Anderson had a sensational season at quarterback. He led the NFL in passing and had a completion percentage of 64.9. Lemar Parrish led the league in punt returns with an 18.8 yard average. Isaac Curtis would lead the league in receiving average with 21.1 yards per catch.

  The Steelers pinned the first loss on the Bengals 30-24 at Riverfront. A thrilling 33-24 win over Buffalo on Monday Night, in which Ken Anderson passed for 447 yards, ran the record to 8-1. The second loss of the year came the following week by a 35-23 score at Cleveland, the Browns’ first victory of the year.

  After wins over Houston, in which John Reaves subbed at quarterback for the injured Ken Anderson, and a shut out win over Philadelphia, the bengals were 10-2 and facing a showdown with the 11-1 Steelers. The Bengals were not up to the task, however, losing 35-14 and dropping any chance whatsoever for a division title. Still, the  bengals made it into the playoffs as a wildcard team with a final week win over San Diego 47-17.

  This was the third time in six years that Cincinnati made the playoffs, but unfortunately it proved to be  the third time that the Bengals lost the opening game. The opponents was the Raiders in Oakland. The Bengals trailed 31-14 early in the fourth period and closed to 31-28, but that turned out to be the final score.

  Ken Anderson had another tremendous year, leading the NFL in passing for the second consecutive season. He passed for 3169 yards and 21 touchdowns. Isaac Curtis caught 44 passes for 934 yards, and for the third year in a row lead the league in receiving average with a 21.2 yard average per catch

  Cincinnati had six draft picks during the first three rounds. In all, thirteen rookies made the Bengals roster, a remarkable turnover for a team coming off a 11-3 season. Several first year players, including Archie Giffin, Billy Brooks, Chris Bahr, Gary Burley, Pat McInally and Reggie Williams made significant contributions. Coy Bacon was another new comer, coming in a trade from San Diego for Charlie Joiner.

  The Bengals won four of the first five games of the year, with the only loss coming at the hands of the Baltimore Colts 28-27 in the second week. By contrast the Super Bowl champion Steelers were 1-4. On the sixth Sunday of the season, the Steelers defeated the Bengals 23-6 at Riverfront. That was the beginning of a 9 game Pittsburgh winning streak. Cincinnati kept pace, however, by winning 5 in a row after the loss to the Steelers.

  After eleven games, the Bengals were 9-2 and the Steelers were 7-4 with three contests left on the schedule. A win over the Steelers would clinch the division title. The Steelers stayed alive by defeating the Bengals 7-3 in a driving snowstorm at Riverfront Stadium. Still the Bengals could only win the division by winning the final two games. This was not accomplished, however, as the Cincinnati club fell to the Raiders on a Monday Night game in Oakland. The Bengals won the season finale 42-3 over the Jets, but the game was meaningless as the club was out of the playoff picture. Both the Steelers and Bengals finished 10-4, but the Steeler claimed the division championship on the basis of its two game sweep over Cincinnati. New England claimed the wildcard spot in the playoffs with an 11-3 record. The defense was outstanding only yielding 210 points, a club record. Coy Bacon had 26 sacks and Ken Riley led the AFC in interceptions with nine.

  After nine contests, the Bengals were a disappointing 4-5. The inconsistency on offense was the main problem, as thye Cincinnati club only topped the 20 point mark only once during the first nine weeks. The season turned around with a 23-17 win over the tough Miami Dolphins. A 30-13 victory over the New York Giants and a 27-7 triumph in Kansas City brought the Bengals record to 7-5, just one game behind Pittsburgh with only two games to play.

  The Bengals met the Steelers in week thirteen. According to the NFL tie braking procedures which determined the playoff participants, the Bengals had to defeat the Steelers by a minimum of seven points to hope to claim a spot in post season play. In brutal 2 degree temperatures, the Bengals did just that with a 17-10 win. All Bill Johnson’s crew had to do to make the playoffs was defeat Houston in the final game. For the second year in a row, the Bengals blew a clear shot at a division championship. They lost to the Oilers 21-16 in Houston.

  To make matters worst Ken Anderson suffered a broken hand in pre-season and missed the first four games. The Bengals lost all four games. Anderson returned in game five, but the Bengals were defeated 28-12 by San Francisco. As a result of the 0-5 start, Paul Brown fired his old friend Bill Johnson as coach and brought in Homer Rice. Things improved very little. The club lost the first three games under Rice, scoring only 3 points. After a 28-13 win over Houston to break the losing streak, the Bengals lost 4 more to drop to 1-12.

  Rice’s club managed to win the final three games over the Rams, Falcons and Browns to finish 4-12. There was no doubt in was a horrendous year, but the Bengals were rebuilding back toward respectability. Sixteen starters on the 1978 team started in Super Bowl XVI.

  The Bengals began the season with two though losses to Tampa Bay and Miami, but rebounded to upset the Steelers 30-28 in the third game of the season. After two more defeats, the Bengals beat the Steelers again, this time at Three Rivers Stadium by a 17-16 score. That was followed by a 14-0 win over Minnesota. After the Minnesota win, Gregg’s club lost the next five contests to fall to 3-9, but won the next three before falling to Cleveland in the season wrap up. The Bengals finished with a 6-10 record in Gregg’s first season, and things were looking up.

  The club also sought to open the offense by drafting speedy wide receivers as the first two selections in the college draft. David Verser from Kansas City was the first choice, followed by Chris Collinsworth of Florida. Verser was a disappointment and was used mainly as a kickoff returner. Collinsworth burst onto the pro football scene like a comet, however, catching 67 passes for 1009 yards and eight touchdowns, earning him a Pro Bowl berth. Collinworth also became a favorite with his homespun humor. Several of his more memorable quotes appeared in a cover story in Sports Illustrated.

  While an overall improvement in the Bengals was predicted, very few pro football observers expected the Cincinnati club to escape last place in 1981. A 2-2 preseason did little to dispel that prognosis.

  The Bengals opened the season at home against Seattle, and trailed 21-0 at the end of the first period. Ken Anderson was replaced at quarterback by inexperienced Turk Schonert. Under Schonert, the Bengals mounted an amazing comeback and pulled out a 27-21 win.

  The next week, with the Bengals playing the Jets in New York, Gregg struck with Anderson at quarterback an unpopular decision among many Bengal fans. Once more the Bengals fell behind early, this time 14-0. Again the Bengals mounted comeback, this time with Anderson at the controls to pull out a 31-30 win. After a 20-17 loss to Cleveland, the Bengals defeated Buffalo 27-24 in overtime. This was the result of another comeback effort, as the Bengals trailed the Bills 21-10 early in the fourth quarter.

  The month of October brought two wins and two losses. During the third week of the month the Bengals routed the Steeler 34-7, but they lost 17-7 the following Sunday to the lowly Saints in New Orleans. After 8 games the Bengals were 5-3 tied for first place with Pittsburgh.

  The schedule for November brought 5 tough clubs, but the Bengals handled each of them easily. Houston fell first by a 34-21 score. The Chargers were defeated 40-17 in San Diego. A game highlighted by Louis Breeden’s 102 yard interception return. In two home games, the Bengals downed the Rams 24-10 and the Broncos 38-12. Finally, the Browns were routed 41-21.

  During the first week of December, the Bengals lost a Super Bowl preview against the 49’ers 21-3 at Riverfront. The following Sunday however, the Bengals defeated the Steelers in Pittsburgh 17-10 to clinch the division title. The home field advantage in the playoffs was wrapped up in the final game, a 31-30 win Atlanta. The Bengals finish the regular season 12-4.

The Bengals would go on to finish with the best record in the AFC at 12-4, as QB Kenny Anderson won the NFL MVP, and offensive Player of the year by passing for 3,754 yards and 29 TD passes with league leading completion percentage of 62.6. Many of Anderson's landed in the hands of Rookie WR Chris Collinsworth who caught 8 TD passes, while gaining 1,009 receiving yards in an impressive first season. In the first ever playoff game at Riverfront Stadium the Bengals and Buffalo Bills battled back and forth, with neither team having much trouble moving the ball. With the game tied at 21 late in the 4th Quarter Ken Anderson hit Chris Collinsworth with 16-yard Game winning TD Pass as the Bengals advanced to the AFC Championship Game. The Bengals hosted the San Diego Chargers in freezing temperatures where the win chill at game time was 59 degrees below 0. The Bengals seemed better suited to the extreme temperature and came away with a 27-7 win to advance to their first ever Super Bowl. Jim Breech was AFC's leading scorer with 115 points

  The games resumed in November after eight contest were wiped out. The Bengals won five of 6 games post strike games in 1982, the only loss coming at the hands of the Chargers in a wild passing duel on Monday Night. The Chargers won 50-34. Along the way the Bengals defeated the Los Angeles Raiders 31-17 for that clubs only regular season loss. The Bengals closed out the regular season on January 2 with a 35-27 win over Houston in the Astrodome. In that game, Ken Anderson completed 27 of 31, including 20 in a row at one point. The year ended win a 7-2 regular season mark.

  The first half of the regular season was not much better. The Bengals lost the first three games, scoring just 23 points in the process. After a 23-17 win over hapless Tampa Bay Bucs, the Bengals lost three more to run their record to 1-6.

  The next eight contest offered some encouragement. The Bengals won six times, including  lopsided wins over the Houston Oilers and victories over playoff bound Detroit and Pittsburgh. Pete Johnson sparked the revival with 698 yards rushing and 13 touchdown in those eight games. After a final game loss to the Vikings, the bengals’ season ended with a 7-9 record. For the year, Chris Collinsworth caught 66 passes for 1126 yards, dispelling the notion that his move to the USFL in 1985 would reduce his efficiency. Johnson tied for the AFC lead in touchdowns with 14 even though he missed the first 5 games of the year. Better still, the Bengals defense ranked number one in the NFL with the fewest yards allowed.

  On Christmas Eve, however, Bengal Fans received another shock. coach Forrest Gregg quit   to be Head Coach of the Green Bay Packers which he played and won several league championships as a player. Paul Brown let him out of his contract so he could pursue a dream of coaching the team that drafted him as a player The Bengals new coach in 1984 would be Sam Wyche who had played for the Bengals during the first few years of existence. 

Changing The Game

Left: Isaac Curtis holds the Bengals record for career receiving yards.  He accumulated 7,101 yards during his career with Cincinnati from 1973 to 1984.

The most commonly recognized contribution comes from the "Ickey Shuffle". A celebratory dance created by Bengals running back Ickey Woods in his rookie season of 1988 during the Bengals Super Bowl run. It has been suggested that this dance, done after Woods would score a touchdown, was the catalyst for the NFL instituting penalties against excessive celebratory performances and before the 1989 season was over, it was relegated to the sidelines.

A No-Huddle Offense was commonly used by all teams when time in the game was running low. However, Sam Wyche, the current head coach of the Bengals in 1988, made the high-paced offense the standard modality for the ball club regardless of time remaining. By quickly setting up for the next play (often within 5-10 seconds after the last play despite being afforded 45 seconds) this hindered the other teams' defense from substituting situational players, regrouping for tactics, and, some suggest, increased the defenses' rate of fatigue (This is attributed to the belief that the offense dictates when a play starts so they tend to be more mentally relaxed and prepared for the start of a play where the defense must remain on a different level of alert before the play starts). In response to this tactic the NFL instituted several rules related to this tactic:

* Allowing the defense ample time for substitutions

* If a player's injury causes the play-clock to stop, the player must sit out at least one play

* Charging a time-out to a team when a player is injured within a certain time periods of the game

The tactic was used by the franchise from the late 80s while Sam Wyche was the coach. The main rivals for AFC supremacy were the Buffalo Bills, coached by Marv Levy. Most of the high-profile games (the various games for AFC Conference titles and regular season games) between the two lead to these changes in NFL rules.

• First Draft Pick:
  Bob Johnson, C, Tennessee, 1968.
• First Regular-Season Game:
  A 13-29 loss to the San Diego Chargers, 9/6/68.
• First Regular-Season Win:
  A 24-10 victory over the Denver Broncos, 9/15/68.
• First Pass Reception:
  Running back Tom Smiley caught a 2-yard pass from quarterback Dewey Warren on the second play in Bengals history, 9/6/68.
• First Regular-Season Touchdown:
  A 2-yard run by running back Paul Robinson vs. the San Diego Chargers, 9/6/68.
• First Winning Season:
  1970 (8-6-0).
• First Playoff Appearance:
  A 17-0 loss to the Baltimore Colts, 12/26/70.
• First Super Bowl Appearance:
  A 26-21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XVI, 1/24/82.
• First To Rush 100 Yards in a Game:
  Paul Robinson, 157 yards vs. the Oakland Raiders, 10/27/68.
• First 1,000-Yard Rusher:
  Paul Robinson, 1,023 yards (1968).

• First to Pass 400 Yards in a Game:
  Ken Anderson, 447 yards, 11/17/75.
• First All-League Selection:
  Paul Robinson, All-AFL in 1968.
• First Long-Time Bengal Elected to Hall of Fame:
  Anthony Muñoz, 1998.
• Most Career Rushing Yards:
  Corey Dillon, 8,061 yards (1997-2003).
• Most Career Passing Yards:
  Ken Anderson, 32,838 yards (1971-86).
• Most Career Receptions:
  Carl Pickens, 530 receptions (1992-99).
• All-Time Leading Scorer:
  Jim Breech, 1,151 points (1980-92).
• Original Home Field:
  Nippert Stadium

Franchise Granted:
May 24, 1967
First Season:
1968
Stadium:
Paul Brown Stadium
President:
Mike Brown
Chairman of the Board:
Austin E. Knowlton
Head Coach:
Marvin Lewis
AFC Championships:
1981, 1988
AFC Central Division Championships:
1970, 1973, 1981, 1988, 1990
All-Time Record:
239-320-1
AFL Record:
7-20-1
NFL Record:
232-300-0
Retired Uniform Numbers:
#54 Bob Johnson