History of the Cincinnati Bengals
Since starting off as an expansion franchise in the American Football League in 1968, they have appeared in three Super Bowls, but lost all three times, twice to the San Francisco 49ers and once to the Los Angeles Rams.
The other investors included Austin E. Knowlton who was the largest shareholder with 30%, John Sawyer with 20%, The Cincinnati Enquirer with 11% and seven others who had a combined ownership share of 29%.
When the AAFC folded after the 1949 season, the Browns, as well as the San Francisco 49ers and the first incarnation of the Baltimore Colts, were absorbed into the National Football League.
Brown initially sought a franchise in the National Football League but had been rebuffed, in no small part because Cincinnati did not have an adequate facility.
The city's largest football venue then in place, the University of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium, seated only 28,000 people, nowhere near the minimum 50,000 capacity the league required for prospective expansion teams.
He was named general manager and head coach, with the same total authority over the football side of the operation he had held for his first 15 years in Cleveland.
[4][1] Possibly as an swipe at Modell, Paul Brown chose the exact shade of burnt orange used by his former team, with black as the secondary color.
Under pressure from Congress, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle had promised that professional football would be maintained in each of the twenty-three markets where it then existed.
Having just stocked the Saints' roster, the NFL's owners did not want to risk having the talent pool of their own league becoming further diluted by way of another expansion draft.
The cash from the transaction provided the American Football League with the funds needed to pay the indemnities required to be paid by the AFL to the NFL, as stipulated by the merger agreement.
Prior to the merger being announced, Paul Brown had not seriously considered joining the American Football League, and was not a supporter of what he openly regarded to be an inferior competition, once famously stating that "I didn't pay ten million dollars to be in the AFL.
"[5] However, with the announcement of the merger, Brown realized that the AFL expansion franchise would likely be his only realistic path back into the NFL in the short term.
Ultimately, the stadium issue was settled in no small part because the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball were also in need of a facility to replace the antiquated Crosley Field, which they had used since 1912.
Unexpected victories for AFL teams in Super Bowls III and IV had persuaded NFL owners, starting with Art Modell, to re-consider the question of divisional alignments and ultimately led to the Browns and Bengals both being placed in the AFC Central.
In 1970, the Bengals joined the NFL and made their first playoff appearance, having finished with the best record in the newly formed AFC Central division, but lost to the Baltimore Colts.
In tribute to his father, Mike Brown refused corporate offers to have the stadium renamed for their company which became a trend in the NFL and other sports team around that time.
During the 2005 season, the Bengals became known for their players' off-field and non-football related violations of league substance policies and legal troubles.
The season opener against Denver was a 12–7 defeat, but afterward the Bengals won four in a row against the Packers, Steelers, Browns, and Ravens.
During the week after that game, tragedy struck when Chris Henry fell out of a pickup truck during a domestic dispute and died from his injuries.
Their season, which looked so promising a few weeks earlier, ended with a whimper as the Jets won a second time, the score being 24–14.
Head coach Marvin Lewis was given authority over many day-to-day football operations by owner Mike Brown prior to the season.
Backup A. J. McCarron was serviceable, leading the team to finish at 12–4 and clinched the AFC North title for the second time in three seasons.
An additional personal foul by cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones set the Steelers up in Bengals territory and allowed them to kick the game-winning field goal.
Following the season, the Bengals and Marvin Lewis mutually decided to part ways following three consecutive non-playoff years and an 0–7 record in the postseason.
[12] To replace Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati hired Zac Taylor, who had previously served as the quarterbacks coach for the Los Angeles Rams.
The Bengals wouldn't recover for three weeks, losing to the New York Giants, Miami Dolphins (which eliminated them from playoff contention), and Dallas Cowboys by scores of 19–17, 19–7, and 30–7, respectively.
After a 37–31 win over the Houston Texans and a 38–3 beatdown loss by the Ravens, the Bengals finished at 4–11–1, last in the division, and secured the fifth overall pick in 2021.
The Cincinnati Bengals finished the regular season with a 10–7 record, clinching the AFC North with a 34–31 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 17.
Kansas City won the coin toss and had possession to begin the overtime period, but Cincinnati's Vonn Bell intercepted a Patrick Mahomes throw to set up a drive to the Chiefs' 13-yard line.
The Bengals faced Kansas City in Arrowhead Stadium for a rematch of the previous year's contest and found themselves tied late into the fourth quarter.
