Cincinnati Bengals tight end C.J. Uzomah has some, er, peculiar music tastes.
Most athletes have a favorite rap or hip-hop song on their pre-game playlists, but not Uzomah. His go-to tune is by….Disney?
More specifically, Mulan’s “I’ll Make a Man Out of You.”
How did we go through the entire 2021 season before finding this out? Do his teammates know? Do they join in? We have so many questions.
Bengals TE C.J. Uzomah explains why he listens to “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from the Mulan soundtrack before each game. pic.twitter.com/jbRszRUUDG
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) January 5, 2022
No explanation necessary, C.J. We’re here for it.
The idea of the 6-foot-6, 260 pounds tight end closing his eyes and lip-syncing (or actually singing) along with Donny Osmond just makes us smile inside.
Cincinnati Bengals tight end C.J. Uzomah reveals something very personal
For those unfamiliar with the Mulan soundtrack, this particular song is performed midway through the movie when Mulan, a Chinese girl pretending to be a boy so she can fight in place of her father in the war, goes through intensive soldier training.
Sung by Li Shang, Mulan’s army captain and future lover, the gist of the song is simple: Be a man. Toughen up. Grow a pair. Etc, etc.
Uzomah, for his part, has toughened up quite a bit in 2021, recording career-highs in catches, yards, and touchdowns. When he blocks defenders, he does so with the force of a great typhoon; when he breaks tackles, he shows the strength of a raging fire.
And Uzomah remains as mysterious to us as ever, given this new information about him.
In our heads, we’re imaging Uzomah, Burrow, and Chase harmonizing to sing “A Whole New World” or “Hakuna Matata.” It would be quite the spectacle.