Reflecting On Joe Mixon
Credit: Sam Greene / USA TODAY Network
The Cincinnati Bengals’ Ring of Honor is the highest honor the team awards and is reserved for the best players in franchise history. Joe Mixon spent his first seven years in Cincinnati, and whenever he hangs up the cleats for good, he deserves to be in the Bengals Ring of Honor forever.
The Bengals opened up the team’s Ring of Honor in 2021, and so far, it is a pretty exclusive group. Ken Anderson, Anthony Munoz, Paul Brown, and Ken Riley were the first four members to join. After the initial group, Willie Anderson, Boomer Esiason, Isaac Curtis, and Chad Johnson have also been added. It might need to be a few years after Mixon hangs it up before he gets in, but there is no reason he shouldn’t be included in the Ring of Honor.
Mixon was drafted by the Bengals in the second round of the 2017 Draft after a standout career with the Oklahoma Sooners. During his seven years with the Bengals, Mixon played in 97 games, starting 88 of them, rushing for 6,412 yards and 49 touchdowns. He was also an elite receiver out of the backfield, adding another 2,139 yards and 13 touchdowns on 283. Mixon was also nearly superhuman in protecting the ball. In seven years, he only had six total fumbles, and only four of them were lost to the opposing teams.
Even when Cincinnati struggled, Mixon still found a way to be an impact player on the offense. In 2019, the Benagals only had two wins, but it might have been zero if it wasn’t for Mixon’s success (1,424 total yards and eight total touchdowns). In Week 17 in particular, he found the end zone twice on 162 rushing yards, being the difference in a 33-23 win over the Cleveland Browns.
Earlier this offseason, Cincinnati traded Mixon to the Houston Texans for a 7th-round pick. From an outside perspective, that might not seem like enough value back, but there was also talk about the Bengals just releasing him outright. The decision to release him wasn’t because the Bengals didn’t think he could still be a difference-maker; it was because they didn’t want to pay him the $19.75 million over two years that the Texans were willing to pay. With the Joe Burrow contract already done and the Ja’Marr Chase contract extension on deck, the money needed to go somewhere else.
In terms of where Mixon ranks all-time with the Bengals, he is in the top three in most every category for a running back. For rushing yards, Mixon ranks only behind Corey Dillon and James Brooks (and Dillion is another player who deserves to be in the Bengals’ Rings of Honor, and he’s up for voting in the next class). The only player in Bengals history with more rushing touchdowns was fullback Pete Johnson, who had 64 during his career.
When asked about the idea of joining the Bengals Ring of Honor, Mixon said it’s not something he is really focused on but added that it would be an honor.
“You don’t really pay attention to that stuff as a player until it’s time to look back and reflect,” Mixon said. “But I do feel like everything that has been in store with me as a Bengals player and to Bengals fans, I definitely hope to see myself in there. I was just fortunate to be with some great players and be one of those guys to be able to move the needle for Cincinnati.
“I came across a lot of great people whether it was inside the building or outside the building,” he continued. “As I look back, I hope to one day be there and, obviously, if the cards fall the way they’re supposed to, I will. I’ve got a lot of unfinished business and a lot of goals to reach. Individual and as a collective teammate.”
Even though the Bengals were never able to win the Super Bowl with Mixon in the backfield, as he alluded to, it doesn’t take away from his accomplishments on the field. In 50 years, when people think back on this era of Bengals football, some of the top players remembered will be Mixon, Chase, and Burrow. The Ring of Honor was designed to recognize the best players of their era, and it will be incomplete if the Bengals overlook Mixon as worthy of that distinction.
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