Cincinnati Bengals

Wow, I've been very lax with my football card blogs for the past few weeks months years. (Cardinals - April 2014; Bills - July 2016; It seems like I should have posted something in 2018.)

Well, this Bengals post has been sitting in draft mode since January 2018. As I recall, I had it mostly completed when the Blogger gremlins attacked. In the middle of me typing something, the cursor highlighted all the text, therefore replacing everything with whatever character I last typed. Immediately, autosave kicked in, wiping out everything I did. AARGH! I hate when that happens.

That happened a few times on my baseball blogs (Tommie Agee, Joe Rudi, maybe others), so since November 2012 I have been composing my baseball posts in Word documents, then pasting them into Blogger. (I haven't learned that lesson yet for my football blogs.)

So my new football blog format (as detailed here) is to scan the cards in groups of 8 or 9, to minimize the number of scans per post (which is what is mostly holding me back).

Seems odd that there's three offensive linemen in this set, but not one running back or receiver.

 

In 1970 (the franchise’s 3rd season), the Bengals won their division with a so-so 8-6 record. In 1971 they fell to last place, finishing at 4-10. (The Browns and Steelers were much improved over 1970.) 

 

 

The Bengals had rookie sensation Greg Cook at QB in 1969, He tore a rotator cuff early in the season but continued playing through it. He led the AFL in passing, but ruined his career in the process. 

 

The Bengals acquired Virgil Carter from the Bears in 1970, and he piloted the team for 2 seasons (21 starts) until Ken Anderson took over in 1972. Carter only started 1 game in 1972, then after 2 seasons in the WFL, joined the Chargers in 1975. He played 1 game for them and 8 games (no starts) for the Bears in 1976. 

 

 

Bob Johnson was the 2nd overall pick in the 1968 draft. He played for 12 seasons (all with the Bengals) and was their starting center for all but his last 2 seasons. He made the Pro Bowl in his rookie year. 

 

Pat Matson played for the Broncos in ’66 and ’67, then was the Bengals’ starting right guard from 1968-1974. You may recall that Paul Brown used “messenger guards”, so there were 3 guards with regular playing time. He finished his career in 1975 with the Packers. 

 

Ernie Wright was the Chargers’ starting left tackle for their first 8 seasons (1960-67). Acquired by the Bengals in the expansion draft, he started at LT for the next 4 seasons before returning to the Chargers in 1972. 

 

Horst Muhlmann kicked for the Bengals for six seasons (1969-74) and the Eagles for 2 ½ seasons (1975-77). A soccer player from Germany, he passed away in his homeland in 1991 at age 51. 

 

Royce Berry was the Bengals’ 7th pick in the 1969 draft. He was their starting left end for 5 seasons, then rode the bench in 1974. After missing the 1975 season with a broken wrist, he played for the Bears in 1976. 

 

Steve Chomyszak was drafted by the Jets in 1966. He spent most of that season on the taxi squad (only playing 2 games) and missed the 1967 season with an ankle injury. He played defensive end for the Bengals from 1968-69, then was the starting right D tackle from 1970-72. After spending much of 1973 on the bench, in the spring of 1974 Chomyszak signed a contract with the WFL’s Philadelphia Bell to play once the Bengals’ ’74 season ended. A ticked-off Paul Brown traded him to the Bills, where he saw no playing time, and was cut early in the season. 

 

Bill Bergey was the Bengals’ 2nd-round pick in the 1969 draft. He started at middle linebacker for the next 5 seasons. Traded to the Eagles, he started at MLB (later LILB) from 1974-1980, except for missing all but 3 games in 1979. He made the Pro Bowl in his rookie season, and in his first 5 seasons in Philly. 

 

Ken Avery was the Giants’ starting right linebacker in 1967 and 1968.  He played for the Bengals from 1969-74, and was their starting right linebacker from 1970-72. He also played middle linebacker in 1974. He finished his career in 1975 with the Chiefs. 

 

Lemar Parrish was the Bengals’ starting left corner from 1970-77, making 6 Pro Bowls in that time. He was also the Redskins’ starting left cornerback from 1978-81, making 2 more Pro Bowls and was named first team All-Pro in 1979. He was a backup for the Bills in his final season (1982).