In 1981 the Bengals had changes
that were new to the team. New Uniforms , a Super Bowl Birth and The
Who Dey Chant.
Today you learn the origin of
Rumors (It came from the Saints, It came
from Alcorn State University, It came from LSU.)
Today you learn how it got
started, when it started and where it traveled once it became popular.
It started in November of 1981. And following is the stepping
stone to it's arrival.
The Bengals were going up
against the Steelers in the middle of October. Both had records of 4-2.
The Steelers lost their first two games and then went on to win 4 in a
row. It was the lowly Bengals playing the Super Bowl Champs of 1979 who
was 9-7 in 1980. It was a big deal beating the Steelers because the
Bengals already were defeated by co division leaders Houston and
Cleveland who were 11-5 the year before.
At that time Pittsburgh was
the big game of the year. That and Buffalo who was 11-5 also in 1980.
The Buffalo Bills game didn't mean as much because the Bengals only
beat teams that had worse records than them in 1981 before that game.
The first two games were against the Jets and Seahawks who had records
of 4-12 in 1980. And Baltimore who won 1 more games than the Bengals in
1980.
The Pittsburgh game meant more
than all other games at the time. The Bengals Superbowl at the time.
They won their Superbowl beating the Steelers 34-7. But the Bengals had
a let down game following that game going against the Saints or (Ain'ts
at that time). Losing 17-7.
The future didn't look bright.
Because next on the schedule every team had a winning record the year
before. And the next 3 team were 11-5 after the 1980 season. First
Houston who already beat us, then the Chargers and Rams. All three were
in the playoffs the prior two years,The Rams and Oilers prior 3 years.
San Diego was picked to win the Superbowl in 1981. Plus we had
Cleveland again, who were 11-5 and Atlanta who finish 1980 at 12-4.
Five of the teams had a total of 24 loses in 1980
Cincinnati went on a great
run. After starting out 5-3. They beat Houston by 13, San Diego by 23
and Los Angeles by 14. The chant started after the San Diego game.
Second game of November. The Bengals had 5 games in November and won
all 5. Beating every team by more than 2 TD's. The Bengals only lost
one more game all the way up to the Superbowl. That game was against
the 49'ers who they also played and lost to in the Superbowl.
The chant started, Who
They think is going to beat them Bengals. ( Cincinnati was on a
roll.they were 7-3 a season after they finished 6-10 and prior two
seasons 4-12) When some hollered, "Who They think is going to beat
them Bengals" Other
fans would reply with "Nobody"
A week or two later. The whole
chant started to grow, and the nobody was stretched out to Noooo
Boooooooody. Coming from an old car commericial of (Red Frazier
Ford ) who was out of business at the time. But had a very popular
commercial, Who's going to give you a better deal than Red Frazier?
Nooo Boooody.
Following that, the chant put was on a 45 record. Recorded by
Cincinnati's WLW weatherman Who's first name was Zip.
From the banks of the
Ohio comes that orange and black machine
They're the Cincinnati Bengals
The finest ever seen
With stripes upon their
helmets and fire in their eyes
They'll take the field they
will not yield
They're strong and tough and
wise
Who Dey.Who Dey, Who Dey think
gonna beat them Bengals
Who Dey, Who Dey, Who Dey
think gonna beat them Bengals
Who Dey, Who Dey, Who Dey
think gonna beat them Bengals
Who Dey, Who Dey, Who Dey
think gonna beat them Bengals
Hear that Bengal growling,
mean and angry
See that Bengal prowling, lean
and hungry
An offensive brute, run, pass,
or boot
And defensively, he's rough
errrr tough errrr
Cincinnati Bengals that's the
team were gonna cheer to victory
Touchdown Bengals!!
Put some points up on the
board and win a game for Cincinnati!
Who Dey, Who Dey, Who Dey
think gonna beat them Bengals
Who Dey, Who Dey, Who Dey
think gonna beat them Bengals
Who Dey, Who Dey, Who Dey
think gonna beat them Bengals
Who Dey, Who Dey, Who Dey
think gonna beat them Bengals
Noooooobodyyyyy
When Cincinnati made the
playoffs, the Hudepohl beer company jumped on the Who Dey bandwagon
with their own version in Hu Dey Beer. 
Who they think is going to
beat them Bengals. Quickly changed to Who Dey think is gonna beat dem
Bengals.
Now you will hear stories of
where it started and it wasn't Cincinnati. But I assure you. It came
from Cincinnati during November of 1981.
Who Dat?. The New
Orleans Saints fans want to lay claim to Who Dey through Who Dat. .Not
only did it not start with the Saints, I can show where the Saints
picked it up and who were the people who changed it to Who Dat.
The Saint's Who Dat started in
1983, Bum Phillips had the Saints fans feeling playoffs for the
first time in their history. They had their best start ever with a 5-3
record halfway through the season. They lost their first two
games by a total of 4 points. They could of easily been 6-0, or 7-1 at
the halfway point.
They picked up Who Dat somewhere during those first 8 games, but
their dream season wasn't to be. They Saints finished opposite of how
they started, winning only three more games and finishing 8-8
The Saint's Who Dat started up again in
1987 the year they started out 3-3 and never lost another game until
they made the playoffs.
Losing to the Viking in their
first playoff game. Before 1987 the Saints were known as the Ain'ts,
never having a winning record until 1987. They went 8-8 twice, but
could never end up above .500.
The reason many believe it came from the Saints, was because their Who
Dat chant was popular the 1987 season and the Bengals Who Dey
chant was ringing loud in peoples ears the Bengals Super Bowl
season of 1988.
The Saints took Who Dat from
LSU.
It was reported that LSU
football was using a who dat chant in 1982. When they went to the
Orange Bowl against Nebraska. Orange Bowl History
A year after the Bengals
played in the Super Bowl. LSU finished behind Georgia for the Sec
championship. Georgia play Penn St in the Sugar Bowl and lost to the
National Champions. LSU lost to Nebraska who finished with second best
record in the nation.
The Sec had 4 team in top 20
in 1982. And LSU beat every team in the conference except Georgia
(National Championship Game) and Tennessee which they had tied.
LSU had the
Tiger connection with the Bengals. And in 1981 the Bengals had LSU
record holder Charles Alexander on their roster. Who still holds the
single season rushing record at LSU. So the alum from LSU watch the
Bengals closely because of Charles Alexander.
So it was easy for them to
pick up the Who Dey chant and revise it to Who Dat when they started
winning in 1982.
LSU had the same type
Cinderella story as the Bengals. They finished 3-7-1 in 1981 and only
beat one conference team. But turned it around in 1982 going 8-2-1
losing only to Georgia in the SEC. The LSU Tigers lost the
Orange Bowl game 21-20 against the second best team in the nation at
the time. Nebraska.
Below you will see that in 1983 Steve Monistere marketed the Who Dat Chat for the first time.
In 1983, I heard two guys yelling "Who Dat sey dey gonna beat dem Saints?" in the Superdome......it was the first time the Saints had ever won 8 games in a season. I went to my recording studio that very night and recorded the original "Who Dat?" song with Aaron Neville on lead vocals and the entire Saint offensive line yelling the Who Dat? chant.
The record was a local and national hit and I entered into a deal with the Saints and the N.F.L. to market Who Dat? T-Shirts and over 30 other items ranging from soap on a rope to Who Dat? Root beer. We also wrote many other Who Dat? songs over the years
The slang "Who Dat" and "Who Dey?" go back as far as American slang goes back. I didn’t' coin the "Who Dat?" phrase, I just made it popular.
For the complete collection of "Who Dat?" songs, go to http://www.mardigrasrecords.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=327
Steve Monistere
steve@ynotcall.com
Who Dey the Mascot
Who Dey came into existence in
the year 1997.
The mascot is called Who Dey because back when the Bengals were good
(in
the 80s) 'Who Dey' was the fans' battle cry: 'Who dey, who dey, who dey
think gonna beat them Bengals??!!' The fans would then shout,
'Nooooobody!!'
The man in the uniform is
Brent Claiborne. Claiborne's college was the University of Kentucky. He
was a kicker on the football team and an education major. Jerry
Claiborne, Brent's legendary uncle, coached his nephew in 1989 -
Brent's first season and Jerry's last.
His kicking days concluded in
1993, but his education wasn't yet completed. So he went searching for
scholarship money and found it stuffed in a big furry suit.
"I'd been praying for
scholarships," Claiborne said, "and the Lord blessed me with an
opportunity to do the Wildcat for three years."
The Kentucky Wildcat mascot is
part of the cheerleading team. And the members of the cheerleading team
are athletes. And athletes receive scholarships.
Once he became Who Dey,
Claiborne didn't have premission
as he strapped skis to his fleeced feet .
"A few winters ago when the roads
were frozen and closed, Brent tied a rope to a truck (driven by Tim
Roland), put on the Who Dey outfit, and went skiing," "He was
doing okay until the cops pulled him over on Richmond Road. They didn't
think it was too funny. But they didn't give him a ticket. Just made
him get off the road."
Once for a post-game photo op,
Claiborne climbed the goal post in Cincinnati to be like "Mork from
Mork and Mindy a popular sitcoms of the late 1970's and early 1980's.."
His antics allegedly misaligned the posts, and the
Bengals' groundskeeper "reprimanded" him.
