In Bengals' lore, it is known as "The Speech" — authored by linebacker Reggie Williams at halftime of Super Bowl XVI with Cincinnati trailing, 20-0. Williams is a native of Flint, Mich., so this was personal. He played 14 years (1976-89) for the Bengals, served as a Cincinnati city councilman and is currently vice president of Disney Sports Attractions in Orlando, Fla. He recalls Super Bowl XVI in a chat with Bengals beat writer Chick Ludwig.
In his words
"At halftime, I erupted into a 'We-can-win-this-if-we-all-bring-our-talents-and-capabilities-to-the-field-NOW' speech. It was a personal plea to each and every player. It's a great memory. It's been a quarter of a century. That's appropriate pause for reflection.
"The time to really exhort would've been when we walked on the field after the San Francisco 49ers' goal-line stand, which in my mind is the greatest goal-line stand in Super Bowl history. Stepping on that field, our defense was let down. We were so de-motivated. That was the time to dig in instead of letting San Francisco out of the hole, and we didn't.
"The lesson for me, that I've used even to this day, is that motivation needs to be continuous. At the end of the day, we made a valiant, second-half effort. You look at what occurred on Sunday with Indianapolis. They were down 18 (21-3) and came back. We were down 20 and closed that gap. If we had scored on that goal-line effort, there is no doubt in my mind that we would have won that game.
"But that's what life is. There are walls. To be ultimately successful in this game, you need to run through them or that wall's going to run through you. In that particular case, the wall ran through us.
"You can blame the traffic going up into the stadium because of Vice President Bush's cavalcade; the fact that our bus got to the locker room so late that we weren't able to do on-the-field, pre-game warm-ups. All those are distractions. The game is played between the end zones for 60 minutes. That's what counts. Anything else is an excuse."
Updated: 3:30 p.m.
E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Safety Marvin White gave the Bengals a lift early in third quarter when he made a leaping interception inside the Bengals 5 for his first career pick coming on Jets quarterback Brett Favre's NFL record 293rd...
Updated: 6:20 p.m.
E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The Bengals defense got no help from its offense and special teams Sunday in Cincinnati's matchup with Hall of Famer Brett Favre as the Jets took a 26-14 win here at The Meadowlands.
Twice in the second...
Updated: 12:20 p.m.
As Shayne Graham recovers from a sore groin, the Bengals opted to sign a kickoff man for Sunday's 1 p.m. game against the Jets in The Meadowlands when they inked four-year veteran Dave Rayner and released fullback Reagan...
This is THE podcast for all Cincinnati Bengals fans.Twice a week, legendary Cincinnati sportscaster, Ken Broo, is joined by the editors, writers and publisher of the popular bi-weekly publication, Bengals ReportIn this up to the minute podcast, the discussion is all Bengals featuring interviews with your favorite Bengals players.Get the inside scoop on the Bengals and their upcoming games by placing Bengals Report on your list of favorites!
In this episode, Ken Broo and Bengals Report executive editor, Mark Hardin, preview the upcoming Bengals vs Jets game in the Meadowlands. You'll hear comments from Bengals head coach, Marvin Lewis, as well as quarterback, Carson Palmer. For the best in sports, visit Ken Broo's web site www.kenbroo.com.
In this episode, Ken Broo and Bengals Report executive editor, Mark Hardin review the Bengals loss to the Cowboys in week #5 of the NFL season. You'll hear comments from wide receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh, as well has head coach, Marvin Lewis. For the best in sports, visit Ken Broo's web site www.kenbroo.com
In this episode, Ken Broo and Bengals Report executive editor, Mark Hardin review the Bengals loss to the Browns and look ahead to week #5 in the 2008 season as the Bengals travel to Dallas to play the Cowboys. You'll hear comments from Bengals DL Antwan Odom, RB Cedric Benson and WR Chris Henry. For the best in sports, visit Ken Broo's web site www.kenbroo.com
