CINCINNATI – Brian Clifton has lived in the Cincinnati area for more than 25 years but says he has never yelled “Who Dey” and swears he never will. That’s because Clifton is a big Cleveland Browns fan.
What You Need To Know
- Greater Cincinnati has come to life over the last few weeks watching the Bengals earn their first Super Bowl berth in 33 years
- Believe it or not, not everyone in Bengals Country is a Bengals fan; there are huge numbers of fans for other teams like the Steelers, Browns
- While they may not be fans of the team, most say they’re thrilled with the energy their success has brought to the city
- One fan said their team has already won multiple championships so ‘it’s time for Cincinnati to get a ring of their own’
He is among thousands of other Tri-Staters who root for rival NFL teams, like Marty Angiulli, who owns a Clifton bar where Pittsburgh Steelers fans gather on game days, and Kamara Douglas, a rabid Baltimore Ravens fan, who says she isn’t ready to switch allegiance to the Bengals just because Cincinnati is playing in Super Bowl LVI.
However, they admit to getting caught in the Queen City’s excitement – Angiulli says he might have had to close his bar because of the pandemic economy if not for a huge influx of Bengals fans – and they’re giving props to Joe Burrow & Co. and a new generation of Bengals fans for getting behind their team.
“I was down there tailgating with friends at Longworth Hall for the Las Vegas game and I’ve never seen it so packed with so many Bengals fans,” Clifton said. “It just was a different energy.”
Angiulli said both floors of his bar, Martino’s on Vine, have been packed with Bengals fans throughout the playoffs.
Seth Oakley, president of a Browns Backers Worldwide group in Cincinnati. (Provided)
“It’s been unbelievable,” he said. “The excitement around Martino’s and the Steelers is always great, but you know this rivals what we’ve been through with those experiences. Every Bengals playoff game rivals it and just gets better.”
Douglas said she’s happy for Cincinnati fans and loves all the excitement, describing the last few weeks as “electric.”
“I’m just gonna say this: I’m always going to be a Ravens fan, but I am proud to see the Bengals finally make it to the Super Bowl,” she said.
No matter how much these outlier fans are happy for their friends or co-workers wearing orange and black, they’re conflicted because the team that’s playing in the Super Bowl isn’t their team.
”Loyalty is important. I just can’t see myself having the passion for any other team,” said Seth Oakley, a die-hard Browns fan who grew up in Northern Ohio. He attended the University of Cincinnati and moved back a few years ago with his Cleveland fandom still in tow.
Oakley co-founded the “Short Vine Browns Backers” group, a local chapter of the official fan club of Cleveland’s football franchise. There are hundreds of chapters across the United States as well as 15 other countries.
There are four groups in Greater Cincinnati alone and they have at least 1,000 formal members, and there are other fans who casually take part. Oakley’s group meets for every Browns game at Mio’s Pizzeria and Pub, not far from the UC campus where he went to school.
It hasn’t always been easy to be a Browns fan, Oakley admitted. One of his earliest memories is the infamous “The Drive” in 1987 – when Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway led the Denver Broncos on an improbable 98-yard drive in the closing minutes of regulation to force a tie. The Broncos went on to win in overtime, costing the Browns and their fans a trip to the Super Bowl.
“Sometimes it’s baffling why I’m still a Browns fan,” he joked. “But no, that’s the team I grew up cheering for and I’m not going to change it. That’s just not who I am.”
The Short Vine group’s met for nearly every game since its group founding in 2015. “Even during the bad years,” Oakley said.
“It’s an interesting cross section of people that have joined the club. A lot of them are students, obviously from northern Ohio. But then you get some old-timers who grew up in Cincinnati before the Bengals so they were Browns fans. They still come and watch.”
The Browns had a disappointing season and came up short in a bid for the playoffs. Oakley watched the playoffs play out at Mio’s surrounded by Bengals fans. He said the energy has been great and loves that his friends are happy.
He plans to watch the Super Bowl at his usual spot like he would on any NFL Sunday. He said he may even let out a “Go Bengals” or something along those lines at some point during the game.
Don’t expect him to say “Who Dey” though.
“Absolutely not, I will never say that,” he said. He’ll be wearing his normal Browns gear from head-to-toe, including a Browns-themed wedding ring.
“The Bengals fans want me to keep wearing it because they keep winning,” he said. “It’s kind of a superstition at this point.”
Down the road from Mio’s, Angiulli will be watching the Super Bowl at his bar. Monday through Saturday, it’s an Italian-inspired sports bar. On Sundays though, it morphs into Little Pittsburgh.
Angiulli moved to the area from Pittsburgh in the early 1990s to pursue a college football career at the University of Cincinnati. He brought that love for his hometown team – and his Terrible Towel – along with him.
Inside Martino’s on Vine during a Pittsburgh Steelers game. (Provided)
“I’ve now lived in Cincinnati longer than I lived in Pittsburgh, but I grew up in Pittsburgh in the ‘70s so obviously I’m gonna love the Steelers,” said Angiulli, who like a lot of kids from Steeltown, grew up idolizing the legendary Steel Curtain defense that helped the team to four Super Bowl titles between 1975 and 1980.
During the regular season or when the Steelers are in contention, there’s no love lost between Angiulli and Bengals fans.
Over the years, things had always been amicable between Bengals and Steelers. That changed around 2006 though after former Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer went down with a serious knee injury in a playoff game against Pittsburgh.
After a series of fights during a Steelers-Bengals game a few years ago, the restaurant instituted a dress code and now requires reservations for when those teams meet: black and gold only.
The Steelers have appeared in four Super Bowls since Martino’s opened in 1995. This year, though, Angiulli “doesn’t have a dog in the fight” so he plans to just sit back and watch the game as a casual fan.
He said the success of the Bengals has been good for businesses, Martino’s included.
Piggybacking off the success of the UC football team, Martino’s is nearly back to even footing though it was shaky for a minute, Angiulli said. He said there were times he thought they’d have to close.
“Together, they basically saved our business,” he said. “What UC has done and now what the Bengals have done for us—I can’t believe I’m saying this—but what the Bengals have done for us this year, has really helped us get through this pandemic.”
Angiulli will be happy for their fans and for the city if the Bengals win.
Clifton, president of Greater Cincinnati Browns Backers, said he loved seeing Bengals coach Zac Taylor and players going to bars and giving out game balls and the city lighting up orange.
Clifton said the fans’ “vibe” this time around is a lot different – not just from the rough “Bungles” years but even from the peak periods, such as the pair of Super Bowl runs in the 1980s and early 2000s era when the franchise made the playoffs five straight seasons.
“Cincinnati has never done that before,” he said. “They’ve never gotten behind the team like this before. It’s just a different feeling this year.”
The Greater Cincinnati Browns Backers is so large they have two meeting spots – Slatt’s Pub in Blue Ash and Copper and Flame in downtown Cincinnati. Clifton plans to watch the game at Slatt’s.
Born in Youngstown, he had the choice of picking one of two teams to cheer for – the Browns or the “bad, bad” team from Pittsburgh. When he moved to the Cincinnati region in 1986, he was actually a fan of both the Browns and the Bengals. He said he was attracted to the stoutness of the Browns’ defense but enjoyed watching the dynamic offensive attack the Bengals employed.
The decision ultimately came down to his friends and family who were Bengals forcing him to pick one side or the other. He went with the other guys.
“In about 1989-90, the Browns went to the playoffs and I was like, man, I really liked this team. They’re full of energy, the fans are cool, they’re great,” Clifton said.
Since then, Clifton has never uttered a “Who Dey.” He wore Bengals gear for the first time in decades while watching the AFC Championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs. He did so in honor of a friend who passed away a few years ago.
A Ravens fan, Kamara Douglas, poses with guests at Paul Brown Stadium in downtown Cincinnati during a Ravens-Bengals game. (Provided)
“If it wasn’t for him, I would never have worn that jersey. Other than that, no, I have absolutely no desire to wear any Bengals stuff,” he said. “I have no desire to yell that god-awful phrase. I have no desire to wear any Bengals attire other than that day.”
Douglas said she is happy for her friends who are Bengals friends. She’ll probably even watch the game with many of them. After all, there are no official Baltimore Ravens bars in Cincinnati, or even Ohio for that matter.
She hasn’t decided on whether she’s going to wear her Ravens jersey. She has no problem sporting her team colors in public.
“I’m not gonna turn away from my team. I have my purple, black and gold all day, every day. And I’m not going to change that,” said Douglas, a Cincinnati transplant from greater Baltimore. She recalls with gleeful fondness the lopsided 49-13 victory the Ravens put on the Bengals in 2019 in front of their home crowd at Paul Brown Stadium.
“I was out going to grab food at one of the concession stands, I think, and I saw this Bengals fan with a paper bag over his face. I thought it was so funny so I asked him to take a picture,” she said. “Before I knew it, these two other people wearing bags over their heads went into the picture.”
Things changed a bit this season; Cincinnati won both of their meetings with the Ravens.
“A couple of years ago, when we were whopping the Bengals, it was all about the pride and arrogance you’d expect from a division rival. But it looks like the tables have turned,” she said.
Douglas said she’s not afraid to sport her Ravens gear even when times have been tough. She said she’s been heckled a few times, including when the Ravens got their “butts kicked a couple months ago.”
“We’ve already got a couple Super Bowl trophies,” she said, referring to the Ravens. “It’s time for the Bengals to get one of their own.”
