Smile!

**Pruitt** · 06-20-2011, 03:32 PM

Browns fans have hope!

In the wake of the Cincinnati Bengals ranking last among all professional sports franchises by ESPN, it didn't come as a surprise to former Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason.

“Don’t you think we’d all be surprised if they weren’t ranked last?" Esiason told the Cincinnat Enquirer. “It’s never going to change. There is no expectation the team is going to win. There never has been. I can’t sugarcoat it."

So, what's the one constant for the Bengals over the years as they repeatedly struggle to compete on a consistent basis and nose-dived to 4-12 last season?

Owner Mike Brown.

“You can have all the money in the world," Esiason said. "You can sock it away in a mattress. But the reason you’re in (the NFL) is because you’re competitive. You want to win. The family has never experienced that."

**bluestree** · 06-20-2011, 04:01 PM

Ouch! That quote ran into brutal in the alley and brutal peed it's pants.

**brauneyz** · 06-20-2011, 04:06 PM

Bengals fans here have been remarkably quiet. Because Boomer speaks the truth?

**Polishguy00** · 06-20-2011, 04:18 PM

Boomer Bobbitt strikes.

**mkocs6** · 06-20-2011, 04:29 PM

Boom(er)! Roasted.

**SpartaChris** · 06-20-2011, 05:14 PM

He's right. You can't expect the players to have a winning mindset if the owners/operators don't have one to begin with. Crap rolls down hill, but so does success. They have to change their attitudes and start expecting the best if they ever want to taste greatness.

**GoBigOrGoHome** · 06-20-2011, 06:08 PM

Bengals fans are historically less positive about their team than any team ever. You have to live near there to really experience it.

Boomer is experiencing a little schaudenfreude at Mike Brown's expense because of his quarterback predicament.

**mkocs6** · 06-20-2011, 06:17 PM

Bengals fans notoriously wore their jerseys at random times at Ohio State. I famously remember someone wearing a Carson Palmer Pro Bowl jersey on a Tuesday in the spring. (Seriously? Who buys a pro bowl jersey? Ever.) This is precisely the kind of thing I always hated about Cincinnati fans, so maybe their wallowing in self-pity will make them more tolerable.

To be fair to the Brown dynasty (and the Bengals), their former paterfamilias won some. In Cincinnati, too.