We're now at 53 days until the Bengals' regular-season opener against the Raiders in Oakland.
That means it's time for a look at former players who have worn No. 53 in Cincinnati:
PLAYER | YEARS |
John Neidert | 1968 |
Bill Peterson | 1969-72 |
Bo Harris | 1975-82 |
Leo Barker | 1984-91 |
Santo Stephens | 1994 |
Tom Tumulty | 1996-99 |
Khalid Abdullah | 2003-04 |
Eric Ghiaciuc | 2005-08 |
Rashad Jeanty | 2009 |
Thomas Howard | 2011-12 |
Marquis Flowers | 2014-15 |
The first player to wear 53 for multiple seasons was Bill Peterson. Signed as an undrafted free agent out of San Jose State, in 1968, Peterson went on to play in 77 career games (11 starts) at linebacker.
After Peterson, Bo Harris would become the next Bengal to wear the No. 53. Drafted out of LSU in the third round (77th overall) of the 1975 NFL Draft, Harris played in 103 games (74 starts) at linebacker through eight seasons in Cincinnati.
Later, Leo Barker wore the number for eight seasons in the Queen City. Drafted out of New Mexico State in the seventh round (177th overall) of the 1984 NFL Draft, Barker played in 122 games (24 starts) at linebacker.
The first offensive lineman to wear the No. 53 in Cincinnati would be Eric Ghiaciuc. Drafted out of Central Michigan in the fourth round (119th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft, Ghiaciuc was the unfortunate heir to long-time center Rich Braham. I say unfortunate because Braham is one of the greatest lineman to ever don Bengals stripes, and Ghiaciuc simply wasn't cut out for the NFL. He played all four of his NFL season with the Bengals while playing in 48 career games (42 starts) before being cut in 2009 and replaced by Kyle Cook.
As for the current Bengals, linebacker Marquis Flowers is currently holding on to the number while trying to hang on to a spot on the 53-man roster. After making the team as a sixth-round pick out of Arizona last year, Flowers will look to earn a spot at outside linebacker once more in 2015. He ended up appearing in all 16 games while notching eight tackles and played mostly on special teams last year.