5 Cincinnati Bengals Among Senior Players Nominated for Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025

CINCINNATI – Five former Cincinnati Bengals are included in the list of 183 players nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 in the Seniors category.

To be eligible for the Seniors category, a player could not have appeared in a game after 1999.

The Seniors Screening Committee, which is a newly created entity this year to provide more input to the overall selection process, will reduce the list from 183 to 50 (plus ties, if there are any for the 50th spot) during the next few weeks.

Ken Anderson, Boomer Esiason Among Former Bengals Nominated for Hall of Fame

Here is the list of former Bengals listed in order of most recent final game played.

Boomer Esiason

The 1988 NFL MVP led the Bengals to Super Bowl XXIII and appeared in 187 games during his 14-year career. Boomer Esiason had two stints with the Bengals, the first beginning when the team selected him in the second round of the 1984 NFL Draft.

From 1984-92, Esiason went to three Pro Bowls and led the Bengals to the playoffs two times. After three seasons with the New York Jets and one with the Arizona Cardinals, Esiason returned to Cincinnati in 1997 and started the final five games of the season, going 4-1 after the team had started 3-8.

Esiason finished in the top four in passing touchdowns in five seasons and was in the top five in passer rating four times, including leading the league in 1988.

Esiason, who is one of 16 quarterbacks in the group of 183, threw for 37,920 yards with 247 touchdowns and 184 interceptions.

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Ken Anderson

Long overlooked for enshrinement, and egregiously so, Ken Anderson should be a lock not just for the final 50 but to be among the leading candidates for enshrinement to follow in the footsteps of former teammate Ken Riley, who was a senior inductee in the Class of 2023.

A third-round pick in 1971, Anderson played all 16 of his seasons with the Bengals, winning the 1981 NFL MVP while leading the team to Super Bowl XVI.

As impressive as his volume statistics are from 1971-86 — franchise leader in passing yards (32,838) and wins (91) and second in touchdowns (197) — you have to look at Anderson’s year-by-year performances for a true measure of what a great quarterback he was.

The third-round pick out of Augustana College, Anderson led the league in passing yards in back-to-back seasons (1974-75). The only other quarterbacks to lead the league in successive years are Dan Fouts, Dan Marino, Warren Moon, and Drew Brees. Three of the four are in the Hall of Fame, and Brees will be a lock when eligible.

Anderson finished in the top five in yards five times and placed in the top 10 on seven occasions. He led the league in passer rating four times — only Steve Young (six) has done it more often in the Super Bowl era.

Anderson also was in the top five in touchdowns on five occasions.

Isaac Curtis

Like Anderson, Isaac Curtis played his entire career in Cincinnati from 1973-84.

The four-time Pro Bowler averaged a franchise-record 17.07 yards per catch during his career, and he led the league in 1975 with a 21.2 mark. As a rookie, he ranked third with 18.7 yards per catch.

Curtis needed just 3+ seasons to become the franchise leader in yards and touchdowns. And by the time he retired, he had massive leads in all three categories — 3,273 more yards than any player in the first 17 years of the franchise, 170 more receptions, and 33 more touchdowns.

The 1973 first-round pick still ranks in the top four in team history in yards (7,101; third) and touchdowns (53; fourth), and he’s seventh in receptions (416).

Lemar Parrish

A seventh-round pick in 1970 — and one of the best selections in franchise history — Lemar Parrish would go to eight Pro Bowls during his 13-year career, the first eight of which were spent with the Bengals.

Often overshadowed by Riley, Parrish put up impressive numbers with 47 interceptions, seven defensive touchdowns, and six special-teams touchdowns while leading the league in punt returns (18.8) in 1974.

Six of Parrish’s Pro Bowls came in his first eight seasons with Cincinnati. And no seventh-round pick leaguewide in the Super Bowl era has more Pro Bowls than Parrish.

He remains tied for fifth in NFL history for most points scored by a non-offensive player with 78. Only Deion Sanders (114), Rod Woodson (102), Ronde Barber (86), and Ed Reed (80) have more.

Bill Bergey

The Bengals drafted Bill Bergey in the second round in 1969, and he played for the team for five seasons. Bergey went to his first of five Pro Bowls as a rookie, but the final four — and his two first-team All-Pro honors — came after Cincinnati dealt him to the Philadelphia Eagles in what remains one of the worst trades in Bengals history.

Bergey had nine interceptions and 4.5 sacks (unofficially) during his five seasons with the Bengals. He finished his career with 27 interceptions, 18.5 sacks, and 21 fumble recoveries, including a league-leading six in his second All-Pro season of 1975.

Bergey played 12 seasons from 1969-80, retiring after helping lead the Eagles to Super Bowl XV.

Full List of Nominees

QUARTERBACKS (16): Ken Anderson, Charlie Conerly, Boomer Esiason, Roman Gabriel, James “Shack” Harris, Bobby Hebert, Jeff Hostetler, Ron Jaworski, Jack Kemp, Dave Krieg, Daryle Lamonica, Don Meredith, Jim Plunkett, Phil Simms, Joe Theismann, Doug Williams

RUNNING BACKS (25): Alan Ameche, Ottis Anderson, Jon Arnett, Larry Brown, Timmy Brown, Earnest Byner, Roger Craig, John David Crow, Clem Daniels, Hewritt Dixon, Chuck Foreman, Willie Galimore, Pat Harder, Marv Hubbard, Cecil Isbell, Daryl Johnston, Verne Lewellen, Christian Okoye, Bill Osmanski, Glenn Presnell, Mark van Eeghen, Herschel Walker, Byron “Whizzer” White, Sammy Winder, Paul “Tank” Younger

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS (31): Mark Bavaro, Gino Cappelletti, Raymond Chester, Todd Christensen, Mark Clayton, Gary Collins, Isaac Curtis, Carroll Dale, Lavvie Dilweg, Boyd Dowler, Henry Ellard, Jimmie Giles, Billy Howton, Harold Jackson, Billy “White Shoes” Johnson, Brent Jones, Homer Jones, Ken Kavanaugh, Stanley Morgan, Art Powell, Mike Quick, Bob Scarpitto, Sterling Sharpe, Del Shofner, Pat Studstill, John Taylor, Lionel Taylor, Otis Taylor, Rick Upchurch, Bobby Walston, Billy Wilson

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (28): Harris Barton, Dick Barwegen, Ed Budde, Randy Cross, Ray Donaldson, Ox Emerson, Bill Fralic, Gale Gillingham, Kevin Glover, Charles “Buckets” Goldenberg, Wayne Hawkins, Jay Hilgenberg, Chris Hinton, Joe Jacoby, Mike Kenn, Bob Kuechenberg, George Kunz, Don Mosebar, Ralph Neely, Nate Newton, John Niland, Dick Schafrath, Luis Sharpe, Walt Sweeney, Fuzzy Thurston, Jim Tyrer, Ed White, Al Wistert

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (27): Lyle Alzado, George Andrie, Al “Bubba” Baker, Roger Brown, Ray Childress, Ben Davidson, Mark Gastineau, Bill Glass, L.C. Greenwood, Rosey Grier, Rich Jackson, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Sean Jones, Tom Keating, Eugene “Big Daddy” Lipscomb, Jim Marshall, Leonard Marshall, Harvey Martin, Leslie O’Neal, Michael Dean Perry, Lou Rymkus, Tom Sestak, Otis Sistrunk, Fred Smerlas, Bubba Smith, Bill Stanfill, Greg Townsend

LINEBACKERS (22): Carl Banks, Maxie Baughan, Bill Bergey, Dan Conners, Mike Curtis, Joe Fortunato, Larry Grantham, Tom Jackson, Vaughan Johnson, Lee Roy Jordan, Seth Joyner, Wilber Marshall, Rod Martin, Clay Matthews Jr., Karl Mecklenburg, Matt Millen, Tommy Nobis, Jack “Hacksaw” Reynolds, Andy Russell, Pat Swilling, Darryl Talley, Phil Villapiano

DEFENSIVE BACKS (28): Dick Anderson, Bobby Boyd, Joey Browner, Deron Cherry, Nolan Cromwell, Thom Darden, Don Doll, Pat Fischer, Dave Grayson, Cornell Green, Merton Hanks, Lester Hayes, Albert Lewis, Terry McDaniel, Tim McDonald, Eddie Meador, Jim Norton, Lemar Parrish, Jimmy Patton, Jake Scott, Dennis Smith, Jack Tatum, Roosevelt Taylor, Mike Wagner, Everson Walls, Dave Whitsell, Fred Williamson, Louis Wright

PUNTERS/KICKERS (4): Jim Bakken, Norm Johnson, Sean Landeta, Nick Lowery

SPECIAL TEAMS (2): Mel Gray, Steve Tasker