:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/22959707/gyi0064737263.0.jpg)
If you read the postgame quotes on Sunday, you would know that Bengals players reaction to the loss in Baltimore range from seething to emotionally drained to determined. We'll see how they rebound off of the mat this next week when they host Cleveland, but you can't discredit Marvin Lewis from trying to maintain locker room cohesion with a decision that he and/or the Bengals' brain trust made to hopefully lift spirits.
According to members of the local media, Rev. Jesse Jackson made an appearance in the team's locker room for a meet and greet.
Something you don’t see every day, Rev. Jesse Jackson in the #Bengals locker room
— Joe Reedy (@joereedy) November 11, 2013
Something you don't see every day (not outside Chicago, at least): The Rev. Jesse Jackson in a pro team's locker room. #Bengals
— Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) November 11, 2013
Though Jackson is a polarizing figure to many, he still is a popular orator and has received much support in his efforts for racial equality over the past forty-plus years. For those unfamiliar with Jackson, he worked with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and became a major leader in the civil rights movement in the 1960s and 1970s. He also attempted to run for President of the United States in both 1984 and 1988 in the Democratic Party, losing in the primaries to Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis, respectively.
History lesson aside, we're not completely sure of the purpose of Rev. Jackson's visit to the Bengals, other than maybe to get the team's mind off of consecutive heart-breaking losses. We have seen Marvin Lewis bring popular figures to meet his team before, a la Muhammad Ali back in the team's 2009 Training Camp.