The Bengals are cheaper than a 99 cent store.
by
James Dator
Aug 22, 2025, 7:09 AM PDT
Boomer Esiason read his invite to the Bengals’ ring of honor ceremony verbatim during his episode of Boomer & Gio on Friday morning, and it’s more mind-boggling than you can possibly imagine.
1. Former players will need to pay for their own flights to Cincinnati
2. They were told to “RSVP quickly” to ensure they have a discount code for a hotel room, which they still need to pay for
3. The players are only given two tickets to Jets vs. Bengals, with the option to purchase more
4. They had one day to respond to the team and say whether they’re going
5. The tickets aren’t even for a box, just in the stadium stands
Keep in mind that this isn’t some mass email that went out to hundreds of former players. It only went to the EIGHT living members currently in the ring of honor. Those players are:
Boomer Esiason
Corey Dillon
Tim Krumrie
Chad Johnson
Willie Anderson
Isaac Curtis
Ken Anderson
Anthony Muñoz
Boomer said he’s not sure he’s going to attend given the details and joked that Aaron Glenn might let him tag along on the Jets flight out of New York so he doesn’t need to pay for airfare. Of this list of guys sure, some made a lot of money playing in the NFL like Chad Johnson, but veterans who played in the 1970s and 80s didn’t make ludicrous money playing in the league.
None of that should matter though, because this is an entirely new level of cheap. Asking players to book their own rooms with a discount code is simply insulting, and it’s ridiculous that this franchise keeps existing without a change in ownership.
