It’s Time For Cincinnati To Start Truly Investing In Their Players
Syndication: The Enquirer
Back in late February, when the NFLPA released their annual organizational grades, the Bengals received scathing marks in terms of the team’s food and cafeteria, as well as their nutritionist and dietician.
2024 NFLPA grades for teams' food and cafeterias:
• Cowboys: B
• Chiefs: C-
• Bengals: F- @sarahbarshop shares more grades and insights into the NFL's cafeterias: https://t.co/tIZsllUgDE— ESPN (@espn) July 4, 2024
To make matters worse, the Bengals were the only team in the NFL who did not get at least a C minus grade in at least one of the two aforementioned categories.
This is the second year of the existence of the NFLPA team report cards, and this is the second year in a row that the Bengals’ nutrition has received an F-minus grade. F-minus is a grade that, until this report card came out, I didn’t even know existed outside of something like “Boy Meets World.” For context, when I was in the sixth grade, I once didn’t turn in a homework assignment at all. On that missing assignment, I got a grade of zero, which still ended up being… just a regular F. My math worksheet that never saw pen to paper got a better grade than the Bengals’ cafeteria.
The cafeteria, which I can only assume is the I-75 underpass, and their team nutritionist, which I can only assume is just Ickey Woods shouting “Get some cold cuts!”, came under even further scrutiny after a July 6th report from ESPN senior writer Sarah Barshop. In the report, she interviewed a former Bengals player regarding the team’s nutrition quality. The player, who asked to remain anonymous, said that between the food program at his Power 5 School and the Bengals’ food program, there is “no comparison”.
“Just (the) diversity of what we had (in college). Diversity of what you can eat that was catered to you. Diversity from a standpoint of having a nutritionist that really could set a certain plan up for you in essence of what your goals were and what catered to you. I mean, that’s really the biggest thing when you get here. It’s a little more basic. Some guys don’t eat at the stadium.”
It’s always a good sign when a player speaks about their former employer and starts with, “Hey, please don’t tell anyone who I am.”
To go further into specifics, the 2024 report card stated that the Bengals are one of two teams in the NFL that do not offer players three meals a day. They also do not open their cafeteria on off days, even though some players come for extra workouts on those days. Wednesday is the only day of the week where players are offered dinner, which is actually an upgrade from the 2023 report card that stated the Bengals didn’t offer players dinner at all.
In addition, the quality of the food at the Bengals’ facilities ranked 30th in taste and 31st in freshness, meaning the fact that the organization only offers dinner to players once a week may actually be a blessing in disguise.
Barshop added in her ESPN report that in 2022, the Bengals had multiple microwaves for players to reheat food they brought from home. This means that a professional football franchise valued at $3.5 billion had a cooking system that’s roughly as sophisticated as the one in my studio apartment.
If this organization wants to truly compete over the long term, it is time for it to truly change. Cincinnati needs to become a destination that values its players.
Investing in your players means more than giving them a hefty salary. Making heavy investments in nutrition, especially in a job field where players rely on their bodies being in tip-top shape to succeed, is one of the most important investments an organization can make. Not to mention, an advantage you can gain on your competition without running against the salary cap.
While star players like Joe Burrow make enough to invest in full-time chefs and nutritionists, backup players and practice squad members aren’t as able to afford these luxuries. Giving every player every resource possible to have a healthy body and mind is a critical asset, especially for players who are fighting for roster spots.
All of this means that the Bengals must ensure that their food budget isn’t just whatever is left on Mike Brown’s DoorDash gift card. This means that the team’s dietician, who received the lowest overall grade of any dietician in the NFL on the 2024 report card, may need to be brought into Zac Taylor’s office for a meeting. Perhaps most of all, this means the Bengals must improve the quality of the team’s food and cafeteria to the point that one of their former players doesn’t feel the need to anonymously speak to the media like he’s ratting out a Mafia boss.
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