Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals are a able football aggregation based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are currently associates of the North Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Their aboriginal two seasons, 1968 and 1969, were as an American Football League franchise. They abutting the NFL as allotment of the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger, which had actually been agreed aloft in 1966.

The Bengals are the accepted AFC North Division Champions.
The Bengals currently conduct summer training affected at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky and play home amateur at Paul Brown Stadium in Downtown Cincinnati.

In 1967 an buying accumulation led by Paul Brown was accepted a authorization in the American Football League. Brown called the aggregation the Bengals in adjustment "to accord it a hotlink with accomplished professional football in Cincinnati." [1] Another Bengals aggregation had existed in the city-limits and played in three antecedent American Football Leagues[2] from 1937 to 1942. The city's world-renowned zoo was also home to a attenuate white Bengal Tiger. However, possibly as an insult to Art Modell, Paul Brown chose the exact adumbration of orange acclimated by his aloft team. He added atramentous as
the accessory color.

Brown chose a actual simple logo: the chat "BENGALS" in atramentous lettering. One of the abeyant helmet designs Brown alone was a striped burden that was agnate to the helmets adopted
by the team in 1981 and which is still in use to this day; however, that architecture featured orange stripes on a atramentous helmet which were added compatible in width.

Brown was not a adherent of the battling American Football League, advertence that "I didn't pay ten actor dollars to be in the AFL." [3] He alone acquiesced to abutting the AFL if he was
guaranteed that the aggregation would become an NFL authorization afterwards the approaching alliance of the two leagues.

There was aswell a complication: Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds were in charge of a ability to alter the antiquated, anachronistic Crosley Field, which they had acclimated aback 1912.

Parking nightmares had bedeviled the city-limits as far aback as the 1950s, the little esplanade lacked avant-garde amenities, and New York City, which in 1957 had absent both its National League
teams (the Dodgers and the Giants) to Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively, was actively allure Reds buyer Powel Crosley. However, Crosley was determined that the Reds abide in Cincinnati and tolerated
worsening problems with the Crosley Field location, which were affronted by the Millcreek Expressway (I-75) activity that ran alongside the park.

With abetment from Ohio governor James A. Rhodes, Hamilton County and the Cincinnati city-limits board agreed to body a individual multi-purpose ability on the battered beach area of the
city. The new ability had to be accessible by the aperture of the 1970 NFL analysis and was clearly called Beach Stadium, which was its alive title.

With the achievement of the alliance in 1970, the Cleveland Browns were confused to the AFL-based American Football Conference and placed in the AFC Central, the aforementioned analysis
as the Bengals.

An burning animosity was born, fueled initially by Paul Brown's animosity with Art Modell.
For their countdown season, the Bengals played at Nippert Amphitheater which is the accepted home of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. The aggregation accomplished its aboriginal
analysis with a 3 –11 record, although one ablaze atom was active aback Paul Robinson. Robinson rushed for 1,023 yards and was called the AFL Rookie of the Year.

Founder Paul Brown accomplished the aggregation for its aboriginal eight seasons. One of Brown’s academy abstract strategies was to abstract players with above-average intelligence.

Punter/wide receiver Pat McInally attended Harvard University and linebacker Reggie Williams abounding Dartmouth Academy and served on Cincinnati city-limits board while on the Bengals’ roster. Because of this policy, abounding former players were awful clear and went on to accept acknowledged careers in annotation and broadcasting as able-bodied as the arts. In addition, Brown had a adroitness for analysis and acquainted pro football aptitude in abnormal places.

In the '70s the Bengals confused to play at Beach Stadium, a home they aggregate with the Cincinnati Reds until the aggregation confused to Paul Brown Amphitheater in 2000. The aggregation
would ability the playoffs three times during that decade, but could not win any of those postseason games. In 1975, the aggregation acquaint an 11–3 record, giving them what is to this day the accomplished
winning percentage (.786) in authorization history. But it alone becoming them a Wild Card atom in the playoffs, abaft the 12–2 Pittsburgh Steelers, who went on to win the Super Bowl, and Bengals
absent to the Oakland Raiders 31–28 in the bounded playoffs.

The Bengals would ability the Super Bowl alert during the 1980s, but absent both times to the San Francisco 49ers. Then, afterwards the aggregation appeared in the playoffs in 1990, Paul Brown died. He had already transferred ascendancy to his son, Mike Brown, but was appear to still access the circadian operations of the team. The Bengals' fortunes afflicted for the worse as the aggregation would column 14 consecutive non-winning seasons. They began to appear from that afflictive aeon into a new era of added consistency, however, afterwards hiring Marvin Lewis as arch drillmaster in 2003.

Carson Palmer, the approaching brilliant quarterback, was drafted in 2003, but did not play a breeze that accomplished season, as Jon Kitna had a improvement year (voted NFL Improvement Player of
the Year).

Despite Kitna's success, Palmer was answer to starting quarterback the afterward season. Under Palmer, the aggregation avant-garde to the playoffs for the aboriginal time aback 1990 in the 2005
season, which marked the aboriginal time the aggregation had a acceptable allotment aloft .500 aback 1990.
The Bengals alternate to the playoffs afresh in 2009 in a analysis that included the franchise's aboriginal anytime analysis sweep. This was abnormally absorbing aback two of the teams swept
by the Bengals (the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens) had both fabricated it to the AFC Championship Game the antecedent season. Marvin Lewis was adored for the ability with the NFL
Coach of the Year Award.

Meanwhile, Paul Brown Amphitheater was congenital for the 2000 analysis application clandestine and accessible money. In accolade to his father, Mike Brown banned accumulated offers to accept the amphitheater renamed for their company which became a trend in the NFL and added sports teams about that time.