The Cincinnati Bengals are returning to the NFL playoffs in 2022 after capturing the AFC North Division championship following an upset victory of defending two-time AFC champions Kansas City on Sunday.
And after the win, Bengals fans everywhere, probably, asked a simple question.
And then they asked it again.
And again.
And then they answered it.
"Who Dey? Who Dey? Who Dey think gonna beat them Bengals? Nobody!"
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That's what Bengals fans do after wins. They have done so for more than 40 years along the shores of the Ohio River (or where ever a Bengals fan may live).
It's become as synonymous with the city as chili on noodles and parades on Opening Day.
Yes, the "Who Dey" chant, which typically follows the "Bengals Growl" after touchdowns, is a rallying cry for Bengals and Cincinnati sports fans.
What's the "Bengals Growl?" (Like Bengals fans don't know every word, but here you go):
But how did the Who Dey chant happen? In 2015, the Cincinnati Enquirer took a deep-dive into the origins of the chant.
Here's what we found.
Did the Bengals steal the Who Dey chant from the New Orleans Saints?
Does Joe Burrow like Skyline Chili?
No, the Bengals didn't exactly steal the the chant from the New Orleans Saints.
They copied it from, if legend is to be believed, beer. What's more Cincinnati than that?
Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Company just may be responsible for the chant. Bengals great, and radio announcer, Dave Lapham explained in the 2015 article:
"... beer vendors and bartenders selling Hudepohl at Riverfront Stadium and at bars across Cincinnati began shouting, Hudy or HuDey for the beer name as that bears a phonetic similarity to who they."
In 2015, Greg Hardman, owner of Christian Moerlein Brewing Co., told the Enquirer this:
“I can see rabid fans, which I am one of them, coming up with this in bars and the stadium," he said. "I personally do not believe it originated in New Orleans with Who Dat, as no righteous Cincinnati football fan would claim something from another city."
The chant was put on a Hudepohl can in 1981 and in 1988, when the Bengals went to the Super Bowl, it returned.
However, "Who Dat" which is something those Jazz-loving fans in the Crescent City chant during Saints games may have come first. And Aaron Neville did sing "Who Dat" in 1984.
Here's what the Enquirer wrote in 2015:
So can there be no victor in the battle between which "Who" came first?
Outside the sidelines, both phrases have roots that trace as far back as 18th century Southern Appalachia. It would have been commonly used by northern British and Northern Irish settlers then. Now, we call these colonists the ancestors of Cincinnati.
On the football field, there are, at least, some ways to tally points on who is the copycat.
Cincinnati scores the most points in the 1981-82 season, edging out a spike in the New Orleans Who Dat craze by a mere couple years: The voice of the Big Easy, Aaron Neville, crooned “Who Dat” for the Saints in 1984.
Or was it a car dealership that created the Who Dey chant?
Another theory is that Red Frazier Ford created the chant with their TV advertisement.
Let's examine:
"Who Dey, Who Dey, Who Dey think gonna beat them Bengals? Nobody!"
and/ or:
"Who's going to give you a better deal than Red Frazier?...Nobody!"
Hardman added that he backs Lapham's theory combined with the Frazier TV jingle because it seems "to be the most plausible explanation as to its origins."
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