This morning Ryan Gaydos from Fox Sports dropped his take on the top 4 players in Bengal history. His choices were Anthony Munoz, Ken Anderson, Ken Riley and Boomer Esiason. Our team does not have a Ring of Honor nor do we have a rich history of putting players in the Hall of Fame. Nationally the Bengals get no love and people have been pounding on the Hall of Fame doors for years on behalf of Ken Anderson. So who is in my Mount Rushmore four you probably didn’t ask….I’ll tell you.
- Anthony Munoz – Of course I agree with Gaydos on this one. Munoz is the only Bengal in the Hall of Fame and no one can question. The guy went to 11 Pro Bowls and is considered a top 100 player in NFL history. Slam dunk give this guy George Washington’s spot!
- Ken Anderson – Again, no surprises. Anderson is the greatest Bengals QB in the teams history. He took the Bengals to the Super Bowl. I highlighted him as such in this article. I also wrote how Joe Burrow can catch Anderson in his career in this article. The stats on Anderson do not lie and when he retired he was the 4th highest rated QB in NFL history. Move over Teddy Roosevelt!
- Willie Anderson – If any modern player should be in the Hall of Fame it should be Big Willie. He went to four Pro Bowls and played 13 seasons. He faced 9 of the 11 all-time sack leaders in NFL history and allowed only one sack to Bruce Smith. Until Andrew Whitworth we never thought we could have a tackle close to the caliber of Willie. He also was critical to help Corey Dillon to break two NFL records and Rudi Johnson one. Sorry Thomas Jefferson, you out.
- Chad Ocho Cinco Johnson – #85 coudn’t cover #85 and nobody in the NFL could either. Chad went to 6 Pro Bowls and finished with over 11,000 yards receiving. Chad led the way in making the NFL fun again with touchdown dances and bribing officials with dollar bills. He was a deep threat and likely one of the purest route runners in NFL history. Chad is a borderline Hall of Famer and a fantastic self-promoter. He is not doubt the best receiver in Bengals history (sorry AJ and Chris Collinsworth). Chad, honest Abe is yours.
It’s hard to replace guys like Ken Riley and Boomer. Riley was a dominate CB and certainly the best CB in Bengals history. I do have a lot of love for Reggie Nelson but he was not a Bengal long enough. Boomer was a MVP and took us to a Super Bowl but his name has not been tossed around to be put into the Hall.