The CRAZIEST PRACTICE in Cincinnati Bengals HISTORY

Prior to week 3 of the 1980 NFL season, the Cincinnati Bengals were 0-2, were getting ready for their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and were completely on the ropes. That's when head coach Forrest Gregg decided to come up with an idea for practice... where his team would play volleyball instead of football. This is the story behind the bizarre practice that, amazingly enough, actually worked out

Get early access to videos, your name featured in the credits, and the ability to request future video topics by joining today for as low as $3!

Play live NFL trivia every Wednesday night at 9 PM Eastern/6 PM Pacific with the chance to win cash prizes! Join me every Monday night at 9 PM ET where we'll have an informal Q&A session!

See videos like this condensed down to 60 seconds by following JaguarGator9 on Tik Tok!

Learn more about the weird history of college football by subscribing to JaguarGator8! New videos every Monday and Friday at 6 PM ET!

Let JaguarGator9 create customized questions for your next NFL trivia show! Whether you want to play with a group of friends and family, or whether you want to host a trivia show for your business or company, JG9 has you covered!

#nfl #bengals #cincinnati #cincinnatibengals #practice #football #sports #highlghts #nflthrowback #nflhistory #1980 #nflhighlights

Members of the 1980 Bengals:
Jim Breech
Sandro Vitiello
Jack Thompson
Ken Riley
Ken Anderson
Ian Sunter
Jim Browner
Deacon Turner
Shafer Suggs
Bryan Hicks
Cleo Montgomery
Dick Jauron
Louis Breeden
Nathan Poole
Jo Heath
Charles Alexander
Ray Griffin
Archie Griffin
Pete Johnson
Greg Bright
Glenn Cameron
Rick Razzano
Tom Dinkel
Bo Harris
Jim LeClair
Ron Simpkins
Reggie Williams
Blair Bush
Andrew Melontree
Blake Moore
Dave Lapham
Mike White
William Glass
Max Montoya
Gary Burley
Rod Horn
Mike St. Clair
Eddie Edwards
Glenn Bujnoch
Wilson Whitley
Mike Wilson
Anthony Munoz
Ross Browner
Jim Corbett
Alton Alexis
ML Harris
Don Bass
Isaac Curtis
Steve Kreider
Pat McInally
Mike Levenseller
Dan Ross
Forrest Gregg (head coach)
Paul Brown (owner)

[marcus]

This was a strange move by Gregg, but with the context that you laid out, I get why he did it. No wonder he was able to coach the Bengals to the Super Bowl the following season. As for how you ended this video, that's quintessential JG9! LOL

[nasetvideos]

I have absolutely no idea how you find these stories and then do such detailed research. It's awesome. Great job!...as always.

[davidkaziska]

I recall from a Tom Landry autobiography that one time after a tough loss he had a practice where they picked teams and played flag football. Everyone was playing a position other than their own and they had a blast. It loosened the team up and they won their next game.

[spartacus]

14:31 Iol, the only time that's a valid strategy

[stephenbuus]

...And you get your signature in in the most unlikely way and without insult, no less. Good job, JG9.

[ralphmtsu]

Ken Riley was just named as a finalist for the HoF. Essentially, he's getting in! Next should be Kenny Anderson.

[magdalenaraspovic]

Love your final comment, "The goal of the 'volleyball practice' was to spike the ball into the ground on every play."

[raiderjohnthemadbomber]

I do appreciate your level of research. Great work!

[bigk]

Gregg also took an SMU team coming off the Death Penalty and had a bunch of undersized and inexperienced scrubs playing like champions despite their Win/Loss record.

[chrisjamesr]

OK, this story did NOT end how I thought it was going to at first! LOL...I've never been on a football team, but I think especially coming from a coach who's been a "disciplinarian", something like that would just fire me up as a player.

[TheManWithThePlan]

Early history of the Bengals: 😃😃
Not talking about Saints-Bengals '78: 😔😔

[CTubeMan]

This unofficial Official Jaguar Gator 8/9 historian will remind everyone you made videos about the following:
1. How Colorado Coach Rick Neuheisel took his team skiing on a practice day before the Cotton Bowl.
2. How Rams Coach John Robinson let the clock run out at the end of the 1985 NFC Championship Game against the Bears, costing the Rams the opportunity to close the margin to within one score.
3. How in 19…
Wait, I hear you saying, “What does #2 have to do with this video?!” Well the day before the game CBS got video of the Rams linemen throwing footballs at a goalpost. This was part of a competition the Rams had that year on the Saturday practice before road games. They threw footballs into a garbage can, threw footballs into the second deck at Giants Stadium, and yes, played volleyball over the goalpost.

Terry O’Neil was the executive producer for the NFL on CBS that year, and he talked about this competition in his book, “The Game Behind the Game”. O’Neil said Brent Musburger used the footage of the Rams throwing footballs at the goalpost as his rationale for picking them to upset the 1985 Bears. Not only that, Brent wanted Pat Summerall and John Madden to talk about that during their 60-second NFL Today segment. O’Neil knew he couldn’t pitch that idea to Pat and John and keep his credibility with them, and this caused his relationship with Brent to fully implode.

[kevingreen]

The Bengals did go 6-8 after the tough losses and after the "volleyball practice" so Gregg showed faith in the team by keeping them loose and they started showing results. Including not only beating the Steelers 30-28 for their 2nd straight win over the Steelers in Cincy but 2 weeks later going to Pittsburgh and getting their first ever win in Pittsburgh 17-16. In fact the Bengals won 5 of 6 over the Steelers between 1979-81 including 2 of 3 in Pittsburgh.

[Omegahybridx]

Ahhhh, I see what you did there right at the end.

nice

[CTubeMan]

Note, paraphrasing of quotes follows.

Gregg’s former coach Vince Lombardi once told Paul Hornung or Max McGee, “If you miss curfew the next time you’ll be fined $50. The next time after that $100. The next time after that $200. And if you find a woman worth $200 give me a call, I’ll be there with you.”

You mentioned Pat McInally in this video. He was known for being a cut up in the locker room. One time he wasn’t being so funny, and it was a time when the Bengals were struggling. During that time Gregg told McInally, “We gotta get out of this slump. McInally, be funny again!”

[franksantore]

Jaguar Gator 9, believe it or not, Gregg, when he played for Vince Lombardi, and his fellow linemen like Jerry Kramer would play volleyball on Tuesdays as part of their routine. In fact the two teams were called the King Ranch Bullies and the Cicero Sissies. You can read it in Jerry Kramer's Instant Replay.

[Marylandbrony]

Because the Bengals were fans of that one scene from Top Gun.

[robertwilloughby]

I think Forrest Gregg was getting them to relax and think outside the box.... and it did work, didn't it?

[DolFan]

The '70 Bengals somehow won the AFC Central after starting 1-6 but even THEY weren't 0-2 so yeah, OJG9 is right!

[saintbrownthetrojan]

Err… team building exercise?
Edit: agree with 11:10.