What NFL Team Says “Who Dey?”

The Cincinnati Bengals! Check out this blog post to learn more about the team’s history and find out why they say “Who Dey!”

The Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The Bengals were established in 1968 as a member of the American Football League (AFL).

History

The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Their home stadium is Paul Brown Stadium in downtown Cincinnati.

The Bengals were founded in 1966 as a member of the American Football League (AFL) by former Cleveland Browns head coach Paul Brown. Brown was the Bengals’ head coach from their inception to 1975. After being dismissed as the Browns’ head coach by Art Modell in January 1963, Brown had shown interest in establishing another NFL franchise in Ohio and looked at both Cincinnati and Columbus. He ultimately chose Cincinnati, largely due to loyal fans voting for it as their top pick among four proposed cities for a new league franchise, beating out Columbus’s bid for an AFL franchise and Louisville’s for an NFL expansion team. Although the Bengals were never part of the AFL–NFL merger agreement of 1970, they did join the AFC following the merger.

The Bengals won division championships in 1981, 1988, and 1990 but saw little success in their early years under Paul Brown as they posted only two winning seasons from 1967 to 1977 with no playoff appearances during that time period. This changed with Marvin Lewis taking over as head coach starting with the 2003 season; Lewis led the team to eleven consecutive winning seasons and seven playoff appearances before being replaced after 16 seasons at the helm by Zac Taylor ahead of the 2019 season.

Mascot

The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Their home stadium is Paul Brown Stadium in downtown Cincinnati.

Their primary rivals are the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns.

The Bengals were founded in 1966 as a member of the American Football League (AFL) by former Cleveland Browns head coach Paul Brown. When the AFL merged with the NFL in 1970, the team joined the NFL.

In 1988, Boomer Esiason was named AFC MVP and led Cincinnati to its second Super Bowl appearance, which resulted in a 16–21 loss to Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers.

Fans

The Bengals have a strong and loyal fan base, known as the “Who Dey Nation.” The team’s official cheerleaders are called the “Ben-Gals.”

The New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints currently compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The team was founded by John W. Mecom Jr., David Dixon, and the city of New Orleans on November 1, 1966. The Saints began play in Tulane Stadium in 1967.

History

The Saints were founded on November 1, 1966. The NFL had granted an expansion franchise to New Orleans on October 17, 1966, which would begin play in the 1967 season. Then-U.S. Representative and future U.S. Senator from Louisiana, Russell B. Long, was a driving force behind getting an NFL franchise for New Orleans as he helped to push for the passage of the Sports Authority Domed Stadium Bill in the state legislature. The team’s primary colors are old gold and black; their logo is a simplified fleur-de-lis. They played their home games in Tulane Stadium through the 1974 NFL season.

Mascot

The New Orleans Saints have one of the most unique mascots in the NFL: Gumbo the Dog. Gumbo is a black Labrador retriever who loves to play fetch and Frisbee, and he is also a big proponent of charity work. In addition to being the official mascot of the Saints, Gumbo is also a therapy dog who visits hospitals and schools to help lift people’s spirits.

Fans

The Who Dat Nation is the name given to the fans of the New Orleans Saints, an American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The term was coined in 1983 by Sean Payton, former head coach of the Saints.

The Who Dat Nation has been ranked as one of the best fan bases in the NFL. In 2010, Forbes magazine ranked the Who Dat Nation as the second-best fan base in the NFL and ESPN ranked them as the third-best in 2013.

The team’s official theme song is “When the Saints Go Marching In”, and its unofficial fight song is “Who Dat?”.

The Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. They are members of the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its home games at M&T Bank Stadium and are headquartered at The Castle.

History

The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its home games at M&T Bank Stadium and is headquartered in Owings Mills.

The Ravens were established in 1996, when Art Modell, who was then the owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced plans to relocate the franchise to Baltimore. As part of a settlement between Modell, the city of Cleveland, and the other NFL owners, Modell was allowed to take his equipment and personnel to Baltimore for a new franchise that would begin play in 1996. The arrival of the Ravens brought the return of professional football to Baltimore for the first time since 1983, when the Colts relocated to Indianapolis.

The Ravens have been one of the most successful teams in the NFL since their inception, winning two Super Bowl championships (XXXV and XLVII), two AFC Championships (2000 and 2012), and compiling twelve playoff appearances. The team has also produced two NFL Rookie of the Year Award winners (defensive tackle Haloti Ngata in 2006 and linebacker C. J. Mosley in 2014). In addition, they have had six players selected to seven Pro Bowls: linebacker Ray Lewis (2000–2002; 2005), safety Ed Reed (2003–2005), nose tackle Ma’ake Kemoeatu (2004), linebacker Terrell Suggs (2010–2011; 2013), running back Ray Rice (2011) and guard Marshal Yanda (2012–2013).

Mascot

The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its home games at M&T Bank Stadium and is headquartered in Owings Mills.

The Ravens were established in 1996, when Art Modell, who was then the owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced plans to relocate the franchise to Baltimore. As part of a settlement between Modell, the city of Cleveland, and the other NFL owners, the Browns were allowed to move to Baltimore but were required to leave behind their name and history. After a fan contest was held to select a new name for the team, “Ravens” was chosen as a reference to Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven”.

The team’s first season in Baltimore was 1996; however, after moving from Cleveland, they did not win their first game until October 26 of that year against the Oakland Raiders. Since then, they have gone on to win two Super Bowl championships (in 2000 and 2012), two AFC Championships (in 2000 and 2012), and have made eleven playoff appearances (including five consecutive appearances from 2008 to 2012).

Fans

The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its home games at M&T Bank Stadium and is headquartered in Owings Mills.

The Ravens were established in 1996, when Art Modell, who was then the owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced plans to relocate the franchise to Baltimore. As part of a settlement between Modell and the city of Cleveland, the Browns’ intellectual property—including team name, logos, training facility, and history—were left in Cleveland with George Halas Original planning an expansion franchise that would resume play in 1999. In return, he was allowed to take his own personnel and team to Baltimore following the 1996 season. The Ravens have qualified for the NFL playoffs ten times since 2000, with two Super Bowl victories (Super Bowl XXXV and Super Bowl XLVII), two AFC Championship titles (2000 and 2012), 15 playoff victories (10th all-time), and are currently the only team in NFL history to hold a perfect record in multiple Super Bowl appearances. The Ravens organization was led by general manager Ozzie Newsome from 1996 until his retirement after the 2018 season, and head coach John Harbaugh since 2008.