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36 days until Bengals' regular-season opener

Stanford Jennings was an integral part of the Bengals during their heyday in the 80s.

We're now just 36 days away from having Bengals regular-season football back in our lives.

That means it's time for a look at former players to wear the No. 36 in Cincinnati:

PLAYER YEARS
Lenvil Elliott 1973-78
Jo-Jo Heath 1980
Jim Hargrove 1981
Stanford Jennings 1984-90
Ostell Miles 1992-93
James Joseph 1995
Brandon Bennett 1998-2003
Reagan Maui’a 2008
Chris Pressley 2012
Shawn Williams 2013-15

The First

The first player to wear the No. 36 in Cincinnati was running back Lenvil Elliott. Drafted out of Truman State in the 10th round (249th overall) of the 1973 NFL Draft, Elliott would play in 66 games (11 starts) with the Bengals while rushing for 1,395 yards and three scores on 324 attempts. He was a versatile back who also caught 102 passes for 921 yards and nine scores.

The Greatest

Stanford Jennings is a name that brings about good memories for Bengals fans. After all, Jennings finished his career with 5,004 all-purpose yards yards (No. 2 in franchise history) as a do-it-all running back that helped Cincinnati become one of the NFL's best teams in the late 80s. Jennings played an integral role in the team's Super Bowl run in 1988-89.

Most Bengals fans remember Jennings from his memorable return against the 49ers in Super Bowl XXIII:

Overall, Jennings played in 107 games (16 starts) across seven seasons with the Bengals and ranks No. 4 in franchise history with 2,752 kickoff return yards and No. 2 in career kickoff attempts with 136. Brandon Tate is right behind him at 127 for his career.

Currently

Shawn Williams will don the No. 36 in Cincinnati this year, though he might not see the field much with George Iloka and Reggie Nelson having both safety spots locked down. Williams was  drafted in the third round out of Georgia in the 2013 draft, but has never started a game while registering just 22 career tackles in 32 games.

However, Williams could be in for a much bigger role very soon with both Iloka and Nelson becoming free agents next year. For now, he'll likely be the first safety to come off the bench if either of Nelson or Iloka get nicked up.