Bengals owner Mike Brown has been a long-time supporter of the Ohio State Buckeyes, especially since his father, Paul Brown coached the Buckeyes to a National Championship in the early '40s. Today, the Bengals had a visitor that football fans in Ohio would be very familiar with -- former Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Jim Tressel.
The only players on the team's roster that played for Ohio State are cornerback Nate Clements and kicker Mike Nugent but the only player on the team that would have played under Tressel for any length of time was Nugent (Clements was drafted in 2001, when Tressel took over the Buckeyes as the head coach).
Nugent bragged that not only did he play for Tressel, but he was the coach's first recruit.
"My claim to fame is that I was his first recruit," said Nugent, a centerville, Ohio product. "The recruiting class was already set, but when he came in he offered me a scholarship."
Of course Tressel resigned from his job as head coach of the Buckeyes following the controversy with players, including quarterback Terrelle Pryor, trading championship rings, jerseys and other team awards for tattoos. Nugent has very fond memories of his former college coach and doesn't believe that's what Ohio State fans should remember about him, though.
"We caught up," Nugent said. "I just love the way he ran his program. I think guys like him, Marvin, Tony Dungy find a way to do it the right way by caring about the players but yet being able to coach them.
"He should be remembered at Ohio State for the million good things he did. Not from one thing that went wrong."