A franchise known for its innovative and elite offenses has tapped two of the most influential chess pieces in NFL history with the election of tight end Bob Trumpy and running back James Brooks to the Bengals Ring of Honor.

Faced with an expanded ballot of 21st-century nominees, Bengals Season Ticket Members went old school for the Nov. 1 induction at Paycor Stadium during halftime of the game against the Titans.

Trumpy, a 1968 original Bengal, emerged as a prototype for today's receiving tight ends when he often lined up as a wide receiver during his four Pro Bowl seasons in the embryonic days of head coach Paul Brown's West Coast offense that became the rage of the game with the influence of top assistant Bill Walsh.

Two decades later in the fast-evolving scheme, Brooks went to four Pro Bowls as a pioneering receiving threat out of the backfield in the next-century no-huddle playbook of Bengals head coach Sam Wyche, Trumpy's teammate and close friend on those first Bengals offenses.

"The thing that most stands out about them is that neither had the entire physical package to be a great player," said Bengals President Mike Brown. "Bob was too slender to be a tight end, wasn't he? James was too small to be an NFL back, wasn't he?

"But they had something within them that drove them to be good. They didn't think of themselves as limited. They thought they could, and they did, and they became great players."

A gangly 12th-round pick out of Utah barely weighing 215 pounds, Trumpy made his Pro Bowls in his first six seasons from 1968-73, a span that only Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Jackie Smith had more catches among NFL tight ends. And that, according to Pro Football Reference, by one catch (217-216).

Only Smith and Milt Morin had more yards than Trumpy on a star-studded tight end list separated by just 14 yards during those six seasons the AFL Bengals merged with the NFL. Only Jerry Smith's 26 touchdown catches were more than his 24 as Trumpy continually found the end zone for a team that went from expansion to three postseason appearances in his decade-long career.

"In my opinion, during his time, he was the best receiving tight end in the league," Brown said. "He was a top-level player. He had a long stride. He had good hands. Because the safeties couldn't stay with him, he became a productive downfield threat for us."

Brown helped his father, Bengals founder Paul Brown, pull off the best trade in Bengals history to bring the reluctant Brooks to the Bengals in 1984 from the Chargers.

"The only time I had played in Cincinnati was in the Freezer Bowl," says Brooks of the 1981 AFC title game, where the only thing more bitter than the Chargers' loss was the minus-nine-degree weather. "That's the last place I wanted to go."

But the 5-10 Brooks, a first-round pick toiling for three seasons as a bit player in San Diego, warmed up fast.

"He got over that entirely, and he was full-bore all the time," Brown said.

During his ensuing eight seasons in Cincinnati, Brooks racked up the fifth most rushing yards and fifth most receiving yards among NFL backs. Only Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Roger Craig joined Brooks in the top five on both lists in that 128-game stretch.

"He was one of the toughest players we ever had," Brown said. "He was a good runner, and not only was he a good catch out of the backfield, he knew how to get yards after he made the catch.

"James Brooks was 180 pounds, and he was as fine a pass protector as you could draw up. He didn't care how big the pass rusher was. He went right into him and popped him."

Trumpy also became a pioneer off the field. From current Bengals radio analyst and former teammate Dave Lapham, his "Voice of God," baritone spawned a long line of Bengals into the broadcast booth. It also put him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the 2014 winner of Pete Rozelle Radio & Television Award.

After leaving the Bengals in 1992, Brooks finished his 12-year career that season with stints in Cleveland and Tampa Bay before settling in Cincinnati. In the end, it's the only place he wanted to be.

"I want to be somewhere where the people are good to me and, yes, the people here have been good," Brooks said. "People would say it's probably one of the best trades ever. It gave me the opportunity to do the things I wanted to do. Mike got me in the right situation."