Bengals Ring of Honor Game Set for Monday Night Football

No one has straddled the Who-Dey generations quite like Bengals Ring of Honor member Willie Anderson, one of only a handful of men to play with both this year's Ring of Honor inductees Boomer Esiason and Chad Johnson.

When Norman Julius Esiason and Chad Ocho Cinco Johnson accepted their spots in the Bengals Ring of Honor Thursday, the franchise quote quotient had to be at an all-time high as the two biggest personalities in club history briefed the media. The highlights from a reporter's notebook.

It turns out there is plenty of room in the Bengals Ring of Honor for the franchise's two biggest personalities.

"I will always remember I got this because of the season ticket holders," Esiason says. "I'm sure there were some that didn't like me there for a few years (but) I'm sure a lot did appreciate at least what I tried to bring to them." 

The Bengals today announced that QB Boomer Esiason and WR Chad Johnson will be added to the team's Ring of Honor in 2023. They will join Ken Anderson, Willie Anderson, Paul Brown, Isaac Curtis, Anthony Muñoz and Ken Riley in the Bengals Ring of Honor.

"He was as quick as anyone we had here," says Bengals president Mike Brown, who has seen them all. "Where it really showed up was as he got downfield, he could break and almost automatically there would be separation and the ball would go into him.

Voting for the Bengals Ring of Honor began Monday amid preparations for the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction of one of its inaugural members as the family of Ken Riley continues to plan for the Aug. 5 ceremony at the Canton, Ohio shrine.

For the third straight year Bengals Ring of Honor member Willie Anderson is one of the semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame with his eye on a second straight trip to the finals.

Bengals Ring of Honor legend Ken Riley, whose 65 interceptions have been bested only once since his 1983 farewell at Riverfront Stadium, is just one more snap from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Riley's candidacy survived a star-studded ballot battle of 12 that claimed fellow Ring of Honor member Ken Anderson when his name emerged Wednesday as one of the three senior nominees advancing to the Hall finals set for the third week in January.