Big Cat

Panther a Tigris, also known as Tiger is the largest of the cat family, so is it safe to say Paul Brown would name his team the Cincinnati Bengals in honor of these magnificent giants? On the contrary. The name was not to honor those big cats but to honor the original professional football team in Cincinnati in the late 30’s and early 40’s.

In 1937, Hal Pennington founded the team and named it after his mother’s stove in her kitchen. He got the name from a logo on her stove that just so happened to be a Bengal tiger. The team would play as a franchise with the fledgling American football League. Pennington would serve as its first coach and GM. They would play from 1937 – 1941 and shut down due to the outbreak of the 2nd world war. They were part of the second American Football League which folded after 1 season. Paul Brown who founded the current team in 1968 took the name to honor the earlier team.

My creation is to pay homage to both teams past and present.