The Cincinnati Bengals will be in search of the first Super Bowl title in the franchise’s history when they take on the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. So, you might be wondering how the Bengals got the name Bengals — after all, there aren’t many tigers roaming around Cincinnati.
The name origin goes back to 1937 when an American Football League team went by the name of the Cincinnati Bengals and folded in 1942. When Paul Brown brought another professional football team — part of a new AFL — to Cincinnati in 1968, he opted to bring back the name Bengals as homage to the 1937 club.
Cincinnati also has a pretty famous zoo with rare, endangered tigers.
Batari wants a @Bengals win for her birthday! #RuleItAll #SuperBowl #RuleTheJungle #Bengals pic.twitter.com/ENGAXCQnVe
— Cincinnati Zoo (@CincinnatiZoo) February 3, 2022
Happy 5th Birthday Batari! The Malayan tiger is a critically endangered tiger subspecies that lives only in the tropical rainforests of Malaysia. Other than females with their young, tigers are solitary and come together only to mate. pic.twitter.com/n2xlVGEcFr
— Cincinnati Zoo (@CincinnatiZoo) February 3, 2022
When the AFL and NFL merged, the Bengals joined the NFL under the same name.
