Popularity of former Cincinnati Bengals star receiver compared to that of the Beatles

Former Florida State and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Peter Warrick was one of the best and most electric college football players ever. The former Bengals wideout entered our consciousness again recently for two reasons.

Maybe you did not hear about the big game that involved the Cincinnati Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs that happened on Sunday. Unfortunately for Who Dey Nation, the Bengals lost in heartbreaking fashion. Spoiler alert. 

But we are not here to discuss whether NFL officials prefer Kanas City barbecue over Cincinnati chili. Instead, before the game, Bengals wideout Andrei Iosivas sported a Peter Warrick jersey as he walked into the stadium. Iosivas, the current holder of the number 80, paid homage to another. 

On the latest episode of the Dan LeBatard Show featuring Stugotz, Warrick’s name was broadcast to the world, making it the second time this week that his name came up in conversations across television and social media.

Peter Warrick was a big deal back in the day

In a segment that featured LeBatard, Stugotz, Amin Elhassan, and former Miami Marlins executive and Survivor castoff David Samson, LeBatard compared the crowds around Shedeur Sanders at Colorado to Beatles mania. Unimpressed with the comparison to the iconic UK band, Elhassan offered, “Dan, I’ll be honest with you. I saw Peter Warrick back in the day, and he got bigger crowds than that.”

Elhassan is correct. Perhaps the crowds around Warrick were not Beatles-level. However, he was a bona fide star that large swaths of the population outside of football knew. On the field, he was Reggie Bush before Reggie Bush. You can watch the full episode of the Dan LeBatard Show here. 

There are still videos of his college days being created with a social media flare of today. 

The Bengals took Warrick fourth overall in the 2000 NFL Draft. Unfortunately, he did not have the NFL success he had while at Florida State. But that was not his fault. Many considered the Bengals the worst professional sports franchise in American sports in the 90's and early 2000's. Coach Marvin Lewis was not there yet to turn things around. 

Warrick finished his time in Cincinnati with 264 receptions for 2,811 yards and 18 touchdowns. His most memorable play with the Bengals was a punt return touchdown against the Chiefs in 2003. Kansas City was undefeated at the time. Warrick broke them over his knee with that return to seal the game and ruin their perfect season. 

It's great to see Warrick get some flowers this week, seemingly out of nowhere. It's nice to reminisce about one of the most dynamic players in the history of college football. It is even better to remember him being the cause of one of the Bengals’ biggest rivals missing out on a perfect season.