Born on Paul Brown’s back porch, the idea for a second professional football franchise in Ohio led the Cleveland coaching legend to meetings with the American Football League and Ohio Governor James Rhodes. The site of the second team: Cincinnati. As coach and general manager of the new franchise, Paul Brown named the team the Bengals, drawing on the city’s original AFL franchise name while incorporating his Massillon-Tigers roots.
For team colors, in an act of equal parts defiance and retribution, he selected the same shade of orange as Cleveland and only replaced brown with black. And in 1968, the Bengals kicked off a new Cincinnati tradition. Whether you’re at Paul Brown Stadium or deep in enemy territory, rep your colors in this super-soft tee.