Open Letter To the Cincinnati Bengals

Dear Mike, Marvin, and Our Bengals;

In 1988, behind exuberance and determination, the Bengals broke through the barrier rising above Warren Moon's Oilers, Bernie Kosar's Cleveland Browns, and the irrelevant Pittsburgh Steelers.  We battled Joe Montana, with Stanford Jennings returned a kickoff for a touchdown, and Tim Krumrie refused to leave the stadium despite a severely fractured leg to stay with his team.  The 1988 Bengals battled, bled, and lost with pride.

The 2009 season has been a grinding trial by slow, blunt force trauma - on and off the field.  The cardiac cats squeezed through the first few weeks of the season, pulling out multiple last second wins.  Vicki Zimmer - beloved wife of defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer - suddenly passed away, but you battled back.  Chris Henry went down with a broken wrist in his turn around season, and then lost his life just as it was turning around - yet you went on.

This impassioned plea asks you to dig deep again and know that Bengal nation is behind you, in front of you, and all around you. You make Cincinnati a better, happy place when you win.  In our times of financial trouble you are the inspiring source of comfort of the underdog, dismissed time and again battling back to win - win for our city and ourselves.

This week is your week and our week - do not feel the pressure to win but the thirst to succeed.

Good luck, God bless.

With Love, Respect, and Admiration;

Your Fans