Happy 42nd birthday to former #Bengals receiver Darnay Scott pic.twitter.com/K8yraz7eG5
— Enquirer Sports (@ENQSports) July 7, 2014
Today is the 42nd birthday of former Bengals receiver Darnay Scott, a man who helped bring joy to franchise devoid of it for much of the 90s.
From 1994-1999, Scott and fellow Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers Carl Pickens were one the best receiver-duo in the NFL. The two combined to catch 788 passes, for 11,131 yards and 80 touchdowns.
Along with quarterback Jeff Blake, they helped form one of the more exciting passing attacks in the NFL, and made the Bengals actually fun to watch in a time when losing and sadness was the norm in Cincinnati.
From 1991-2002, the Bengals were a woeful 55-137 (29% winning-percentage). They had three seasons in which they won 7 or more games. That was from 1995-97, the prime of the Scott-Pickens-Blake air assault.
Outside of those three years, the Bengals were a combined 33-111 (23% winning percentage) in every other year from 1991-2002. More than 1/3 of their wins over that span came in those three years alone.
Scott finished his Bengals career with 386 receptions, the sixth-most in franchise history behind only Pickens, Cris Collinsworth, Isaac Curtis, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson. His 5,975 yards were also the sixth-most in club history. He played eight of his nine NFL season in Cincinnati before playing one year with Dallas prior to his retirement in 2003.
In the seven seasons he played (missed all of 2000 due to injury) with the Bengals, Scott caught at least 46 passes and registered at minimum 797 receiving yards. He also caught five or more touchdowns in six of his seven seasons in Cincinnati.
There weren't a lot of bright spots for the Bengals in the 90s, but Scott was certainly one of them.