City of Cincinnati Celebrates Bengals’ Super Bowl Appearance With Special Announcement

The Cincinnati Bengals are back in the Super Bowl for the first time since 1989 (1988 season). And as a result of the special moment, the city of Cincinnati is doing something special for the community. The Cincinnati School System announced that schools will be closed the Monday (Feb. 14) following the Super Bowl so fans in the area won’t have to worry about waking up early Monday morning no matter what happens in Super Bowl LVI. 

The last time the Bengals were in the Super Bowl, social media wasn’t a thing and the current starting quarterback, Joe Burrow, wasn’t born yet. In that game, the Bengals lost to Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers 20-16. Montana threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to John Talor with 34 seconds remaining in the game to seal the victory for the 49ers. The Bengals are hoping that won’t happen again with Burrow under center. 

“Special team. We are a special team that is capable of doing special things,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said after the Bengals defeated the Kansas City Chiefs to win the AFC Championship, per the team’s official website. “We believed from the get-go, whether people believed us or not, we did. We are not surprised. This is where we are meant to be, and I am proud of the guys in the locker room.”  

And when asked about what this means for Cincinnati, Taylor said, “You can’t help but think about the people back in Cincinnati celebrating right now and all the people that were here. It felt like half of the stadium was at the end of the game when all of the fans got down there. It was a special moment. I am so happy for the city of Cincinnati. They have waited for this moment. They have supported us waiting for this moment. I couldn’t be happier.”

The Bengals were the worst team in football two years again with a 2-14 record. But when they drafted Burrow No. 1 overall in 2020, the Bengals saw improvement, leading to the team finishing 10-7 in the regular season this year. In the playoffs, the Bengals went on to defeat the Las Vegas Raiders, Tennessee Titans and Chiefs to earn the right to face the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl.