![]() George Bird was to marching bands what Paul Brown was to football - innovative, meticulous, demanding and incredibly successful. In a short time in her lofty role, Blackburn has led the charge for new uniforms, new branding and, most notably, the creation of a Ring of Honor, which Mike had pushed back against even though fans have been screaming for it since before Elizabeth was born.Īnd she has promised more is on the way, with much of the change focusing on what fans will see - and hear - on game days. “I have a granddaughter, who, unlike my children, is not afraid of me,” Mike Brown mused recently about Elizabeth’s eagerness to buck some decades-old traditions in favor of fresh ideas and initiatives, many of which she has successfully implemented. ![]() The great-granddaughter of team founder Paul Brown and granddaughter of current Bengals owner Mike Brown, Blackburn has taken over as the front-facing member of the family-owned franchise, blowing through the front office and shattering the status quo. Nor does the song itself, despite an era of change that is sweeping through the franchise, coinciding with the hiring of Elizabeth Blackburn as the team’s director of strategy and engagement in 2020. But seeing the joy on your dad’s face while you sing the song together and throw your hands in the air when the line “Touchdown Bengals” hits, that memory never fades. ![]() Even the final score sometimes drifts into the ether. Ask a fan who attended their first Bengals game as a kid what they remember most, and the answer won’t be stats or play calls. To the team and, more importantly, to family. Get some points up on the board and win a game for Cincinnati. That’s the team we’re going to cheer to victory, ![]() They look to the video board as they wait for the cue to begin singing, dancing and acting out the lyrics they either know by heart or will by the end of the game. The song still succeeds in its original mission of celebrating touchdowns as it delays bathroom breaks and beer runs for most of the 65,000 people packed into Paul Brown Stadium eager to hear it blare.Īs soon a Bengals player crosses the goal line, people roar and slap high fives with strangers and for years, Todd Rundgren’s “Bang the Drum All Day” played immediately. “I sang in choirs, so he had me sing it with him to see how it sounded. “He didn’t use any sort of tape recorder, he would just play for a little bit, then stop and write down notes and lyrics on paper, then play a little more,” says McIntyre, who still has the original manuscript her grandfather composed that afternoon. The oldest of Bird’s three grandchildren, McIntyre remembers sitting in the family room of her grandparents’ Forest Park home as a 13-year-old in the summer of 1968, her focus on the television interrupted by Bird plinking out a melody on the piano. And for the past 53 years, not only has “The Bengal Growl” been sung after touchdowns at every home game, but there also are raucous renditions at local watering holes, Bengals backer bars across the country and, more than anywhere else, in homes where families gather on Sundays to watch the game.ĭebby McIntyre was the first person to ever sing those opening lyrics.
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