In 1967 Pro football returned to Cincinnati when Paul Brown headed an ownership group that landed an expansion franchise in the modern-era American Football League. Brown, a Pro Football Hall of Famer who founded and coached the Cleveland Browns from 1946-62, picked the name Bengals for the new team "to give it a link with past professional football in Cincinnati." 

Five years after being fired by the Cleveland Browns, Paul Brown finally got a team of his own with the Cincinnati Bengals, an American Football League expansion team.  That year the Bengals made their first move when they traded two draft picks to Miami Dolphins for Quarterback John Stofa making him the first official Bengal player in team history.

The Cincinnati Bengals history had begun.  Although the team did not have its first game until 1968.  The making of the Cincinnati Bengals with Paul Brown as the Owner and Coach had begun well before the first ball was ever snapped by a Bengals player.

In December of 1967 the Bengals signed their first player in franchise history.  John Stofa was a Quarterback who had played his first two seasons with the Miami Dolphins.  Stofa would go on to play only one season with the Cincinnati Bengals where he would play in ten games.  Stofa would throw five touchdowns and five interceptions during the Cincinnati Bengals inaugural season.  The next season Stofa returned to the Miami Dolphins.  John Stofa will always hold the historical place in Bengals history for being the first Cincinnati Bengals player.