The Cincinnati Bengals will play in the Super Bowl after 33 years and seven Buckeye alums will be on the roster. Credit: Alexa Mavrogianis and Jack Westerheide | Lantern File Photo
For the first time since 1989, the Cincinnati Bengals will play in the Super Bowl.
Not only will it mark their first appearance in over three decades in the NFL’s championship game, but a number of Buckeye alumni, including five starters and three captains, will play in hopes of bringing the Bengals their first Super Bowl win in franchise history.
Among the group, former Ohio State quarterback Joe Burrow leads Cincinnati’s offense in just his second year in the NFL. Burrow spent the 2015-17 seasons at Ohio State, graduating with a consumer and family financial services degree in 2018, before transferring and winning both the College Football National Championship and Heisman Trophy with LSU in 2019.
“I’m definitely still a Buckeye; I graduated from there,” Burrow said. “I still have relationships to this day that I wouldn’t have without being there. I’m still in contact with coach Mick (Marotti) and coach (Ryan) Day and Corey (Dennis), all those guys. I’m still a Buckeye.”
Ryan Day joined Ohio State in 2017 as the team’s co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, overseeing Burrow in the Buckeyes’ quarterbacks room.
The now-head coach said Burrow’s journey from Ohio State to the transfer portal, and even recovering from a torn ACL and MCL during his rookie season in 2020, has made for a great story.
“His whole journey has been tremendous to be someone to watch and enjoy and cheer him on,” Day said.
The Cincinnati Bengals will play the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI on Sunday in SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Credit: Mark Batke, Casey Cascaldo, Jack Westerheide and Cori Wade | Lantern File Photo
In addition to Burrow, safety Vonn Bell and defensive end Sam Hubbard will captain the Bengals against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. Former Ohio State safety Jordan Fuller is also a Rams captain, but suffered an ankle injury that forced him to miss the playoffs.
Cornerback Eli Apple and offensive tackle Isaiah Prince round out the former Buckeyes in Cincinnati’s starting lineup. Linebacker Keandre Jones, who spent the 2016-18 seasons at Ohio State before transferring to Maryland, is also on the Bengals roster, bringing the total number of Buckeyes in the Super Bowl to seven.
Cincinnati claimed its first playoff victory in 31 years earlier this postseason, overcoming three consecutive last-place finishes in the AFC North. Day said it’s exciting for the state of Ohio that the Bengals will compete for a championship, and he’s pulling for them in the Super Bowl.
“How exciting to come back to your home state and bring your team to a Super Bowl. Excited for them,” Day said. “I think they have a real chance to win that game. They’ve been underdogs the whole way.”
Burrow and Hubbard are Ohio natives, hailing from Athens and Cincinnati, respectively. However, they aren’t the only ones who call Ohio State “home.”
“Looking back, I just meshed. It felt like home to me,” Bell said. “That was the biggest thing with coach (Luke Fickell), coach Everett (Withers) that recruited me, coach (Urban) Meyer and coach (Kerry) Coombs. I just felt that.”
The Rams will make their second Super Bowl appearance in four seasons, winning the NFC West for the first time since 2018. They’ll have a bit of home field advantage, as SoFi Stadium is their home stadium.
Cincinnati already snapped the NFL’s longest conference championship drought against the Tennessee Titans before defeating two-time reigning AFC champion Kansas City Jan. 30.
Burrow and Prince — who entered Ohio State in the same 2015 recruiting class — have one more obstacle to clear with the help of several other Buckeyes in hopes of helping the Bengals win the Super Bowl.
“We reminisced after the game about the times we had in the dorms, seeing each other out on High Street,” Burrow said. “We just say we came a long way.”
