The Cincinnati Bengals belong to the AFC North Division of the NFL, but they began their career in professional football as a member of the American Football League in 1968. They became a member prior to the merger of 1970 that combined both leagues into one league now known solely as the NFL. They began as a member of the Western Division of the AFL, and then were transferred to the AFC Central Division of the NFL in 1970. Their final move to the AFC North came in 2002. They host their games in Cincinnati at Paul Brown Stadium, and are coached by Marvin Lewis, with Owner and General Manager Mike Brown leading the franchise. Cincinnati Bengals history began when Paul Brown (founder), was convinced by Governor James A. Rhoades that the state of Ohio needed a second professional team. Cincinnati was chosen for the location, which split the state in two when it came to professional football support. During the late 1930s and early 1940s, the American Football League had a team in Cincinnati called the Bengals, which is what made Brown choose that name for his team in 1968. The zoo was also home to the rare white Bengal Tiger, which is speculated to be the reason for his choice. Some people believe that Paul Brown chose precisely the same shade of orange for his team that his former team, the Cleveland Browns, used in their uniforms, and did it as an insult to Art Modell. The helmet design simply had the "Bengals" name lettered in black on an orange background. This style was chosen over a striped design that is very much like the ones used today. When Brown was fired by Modell, he kept the rights to the equipment. This made it easy for him to turn his new team into look-alikes of former Cleveland Browns teams. This remained the case until 1981, when new helmets and a new design of uniform were chosen for the team. Brown was at first discouraged by his acquisition, because they were signed to play in the AFL. Although, once he was informed that the team would be a part of the merger with the NFL in 1970, he established the team. Hamilton County was facing problems finding the Reds a new stadium to call home, and the Cincinnati Bengals needed a football field too. This created many complications and difficulties for the teams, but eventually the problem was resolved with the building of a single facility on the riverfront, which had been abandoned in recent years. The facility was scheduled for construction that would complete by the 1970 season, and was adequately named Riverfront Stadium. The inaugural season was played at Nippert Stadium, currently home to the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. They finished with a 3-11 record, although they had the AFL Rookie of the Year in Paul Robinson. Once the NFL merger was completed, the Cleveland Browns were moved into the AFC franchise, which was created from mostly AFL teams that joined the NFL. They were placed into the AFC Central alongside the Cincinnati Bengals, which created an instant rivalry that was initially fueled by the team's owner. Paul Brown named himself as coach of the team, where he remained for eight seasons. They moved to Riverfront Stadium the early 70s, which was a shared stadium with the Cincinnati Reds until 2000. They managed to make the playoffs three times throughout the 70s, but had no luck winning postseason games. In the 1980s, the Cincinnati Bengals history includes two Super Bowl appearances, but unfortunately gave the title to the San Francisco 49ers both times. Paul Brown passed away in 1990, but had already handed down owner control to his son, Mike Brown. This began a challenging part of Cincinnati Bengals history considering they subsequently had 14 losing seasons. The team began to turn around in 2003, Marvin Lewis was hired to be head coach. In 2005, they made it back to the playoffs for the first time in 15 years. Since 2005, Cincinnati Bengals history has not been good, although 2009 is showing promise considering their winning record and more importantly the games the Bengals have won to get that record. Copyright (c) 2010 Matthew Love
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