Bengals News: First-ever Ring of Honor makes perfect sense

The Cincinnati Bengals‘ first-ever Ring of Honor has been established — Ken Anderson and Ken Riley earned the honor of being the first two players to make it for the organization along with automatic bids Anthony Munoz and Paul Brown.

Anderson, a third-round pick by the Bengals in 1971 out of Augustana, spent the entirety of his 16-year career in Cincinnati and is first all-time in passing yards for the franchise with 32,838 yards. He led the Bengals to the Super Bowl in 1981, which was their first-ever appearance in the big game.

Anderson was named to four Pro Bowls and earned one All-Pro nod during his established career. He also won four passing titles during his long career. It’s a no-brainer for Anderson to be a part of the Bengals’ first-ever Ring of Honor for all of his accomplishments.

Ken Riley was a sixth-round pick by the Bengals in 1969 and played for the Bengals throughout his entire 15-year career. He was an All-Pro once in his career, which came in his final season in 1983. He certainly earned the All-Pro nod that year, totaling eight interceptions and returning two of them for touchdowns.

Riley has the honor of playing in the most games among all Bengals defenders while also playing the most amount of years. Riley passed away last June but a quote from his son was included in the Bengals’ announcement tweet.

The Bengals’ Ring of Honor has its first four members.

It’s exciting to see these gentlemen finally get honored and now their names will be etched in Paul Brown Stadium for the rest of time. Hopefully, when the Joe Burrow era of Bengals football truly gets going, fans can look up at the Ring of Honor and thank these former players for the efforts they gave during their careers.

Congrats to all of the Ring of Honor inductees!