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Bengal Jim’s brigade: A campaign for Canton
‘Bengal’ Jim Foster No. 93, leading the charge at the 'Jungle To The Hall' event on the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s grounds (Courtesy: @BengalKev/Twitter).

Bengal Jim’s brigade: A campaign for Canton

CANTON, Ohio (BVM) — Around 11 a.m. on Saturday June 19, numerous people — dawning orange and black attire — congregated at Massillon Washington High School in Massillon, Ohio. The folks of the northeastern-Ohio town would most likely not think much of the crowd from afar; people wearing orange and black with a resemblance of tiger stripes.

After all, Massillon Washington High’s colors are orange and black which is inspired by their mascot: a tiger.

Zooming in some more would encourage more of the same; people exploring Paul Brown Tiger Stadium and taking pictures with a statue of the aforementioned man. However, this is where the disconnect would start as the tiger-striped convoy would be from a different town in the Buckeye state: Cincinnati.

It is right to think ‘why on earth would people from Cincinnati make their way to this stadium when they have one named after the same person in their backyard?’ Well, to answer that, the group was enticed to visit the roots of Brown. 

Brown would eventually start a Cincinnati-stationed NFL franchise that dawned orange and black inspired by their mascot: a Bengal tiger.

Leading the charge of the Cincinnati Bengals fanatic group is the Paul Brown of the ‘Who Dey’ tailgating scene: ‘Bengal’ Jim Foster. Once again, there is more than meets the eye as this particular group had a mission outside of visiting the founder’s old stomping grounds: to get more former Bengals players into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, an establishment not too far away in Canton, Ohio. 

“We just don’t want people to forget them locally and nationally,” Foster said. 

Currently, there is only one player in the Hall that the franchise can call their own offensive lineman Anthony Muñoz. There are scenarios like Terrell Owens and Brown who were part of the Cincy franchise, but they also have their names attached to other franchises according to Foster. This criterion only solidifies the Muñoz dilemma as the lineman played his entire 13-year career in the black and orange uniform. 

The quirky fact — a 54-yearold franchise with one Hall of Famer — has been a thorn in Foster’s side for a while. But then, the nuisance became heartbreak as Foster found out that Ken Riley a 15-year Bengals defensive back passed away in the summer of 2020. Riley is more than deserving to be enshrined in Canton according to Bengals fans and Riley’s family. 

Another quirky fact is that Riley had recorded 65 career interceptions which ranks fifth all-time, and out of the top eight players on the career interception list, he is the only one not in the Hall of Fame.

After his passing, family, friends and fans would experience more torment after Riley would be completely left out of the “In Memoriam” segment of the annual NFL Honors celebration.

This would prompt backlash and change.

The Bengals organization would announce that they would introduce a Ring of Honor to shine light onto their former players and help them build a resume for an induction into Canton. The inaugural class, headlined by automatic bids Brown and Muñoz, will be announced during the Bengals’ Thursday Night matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 30.

Then came the action by Foster and company.

Around the start of the new year, Foster became close with Riley’s family which made him think to himself, what he could do to help Riley’s case.

“What a better way to do it than to stir up conversation about these Bengals legends,” Foster said. “Lets bring this damn thing to the doorsteps of the Hall of Fame.”

With the seed planted in Foster’s head and with the help of friends James Spink, Tom Justin, Tony Brooks and Jamie Stephens, the idea would blossom into the #JungleToTheHall movement. Foster would eventually reach out to the Hall to see what they thought about a potential rally. 

As the time, date and venue started to materialize, Foster would also get in contact with the head coach of the Massillon Washington football team. Coach Nate Moore would hear the striped-story from the tailgate king to which he obliged and offered the chance to see the exquisite football facility.

So, Foster took to Twitter to announce that a campaign to Canton was to be had on June 19. He would then ask for RSVPs for his brigade like an orange and black Uncle Sam in search of enlistments. Foster’s movement then received national attention

The schedule consisted of touring the hallowed halls and hash marks that Brown built at Massillon Washington High starting at 10 a.m. Then, the attendees would make a sub-20 minute drive to the Pro Football Hall of Fame around 1 p.m. 

“[Moore] walked us in the locker room and showed us all the pictures from Paul Brown’s state championship teams,” Foster said. “[We] got to go on the field. They had their jumbotron playing game clips. They walked us through their indoor facility; walked us through their mini hall of fame.”

Once making it to the Hall, Bengals fans would get a special ‘Who Dey’-inspired, self-guided tour of the facility featuring items from Muñoz and Brown. From there, a giant white event tent was set up right outside the main building which held the rally. 

Along with the 210 fans, there were several former Bengals players such as offensive lineman, Max Montoya, and wideout, Cris Collinsworth, who elected to speak virtually and campaign for their former teammates. Elizabeth Blackburn, Director of Strategy & Engagement for the Bengals as well as the great granddaughter of Brown — decided to be voice of the organization at the event. Uncharacteristically, Hall of Fame Steeler defensive back, Mel Blount, spoke as well about the hard fought battles against his old division rivals. 

In attendance was offensive lineman, Willie Anderson one of the many candidates highlighted by the rally. Anderson would be moved to tears after seeing Michael Strahan, Hall of Fame defensive end, speak on the behalf of the linemen.

“It just shows you how much it means to these players that are deserving that just have been overlooked,” Foster said about Anderson’s emotions.

Montoya, wide receivers Isaac Curtis and Chad Johnson, running back Corey Dillon and defensive back Lemar Parrish were some of the candidates recognized at the event. But, the tale of the two Kens and Anderson were the main storylines according to Foster.

“You can’t focus on all eight and try to get all eight at one time so we’re really doing a more specific focus on Ken Riley, Ken Anderson and Willie Anderson,” Foster said.

Ken Anderson was an NFL MVP, Man of the Year, twice All-Pro and played in Super Bowl XVI as the starting quarterback for Cincinnati.

Overall, the ‘speak softly and carry a big stick’ ideology has not worked for the players who have worn the orange helmet with black stripes. But, Foster hopes that his supported outcry presents changes in the senior voting process.

“There’s only one senior that gets in every year now, the Pro Football Hall of Fame has a huge bottleneck of seniors,” Foster said. “That bottleneck is going to continue to get worse so our hope is that Ken Anderson and Ken Riley get in this time around.”

Foster knows now what the Jungle To The Hall has meant to the franchise, players and fans, so he is planning on continuing the fight.

“We will keep this discussion going locally and nationally,” Foster said. “We are going to continue doing what we are doing.”