Cincinnati Bengals 2009 Media Guide.indb - Bengals Home

area schools are eligible to
nominate a coach for this
award. The winner is chosen
based on teaching skills,
sportsmanship, dedication
to players, and commitment
to education. The Marvin Lewis Scholarship Fund was
created to recognize and honor outstanding male and
female student athletes from our region on an annual basis.
Candidates are evaluated based on a 1000-word essay, a
minimum 2.75 grade point average, a proven commitment
to the community, need, and a varsity letter.
The MLCF’s newest program, “Learning is Cool,” is
an educational incentive program that rewards students
for strong academic performance and is part of a partnership
with the Cincinnati Public Schools. This program is
designed to encourage the nearly 20,000 first-to-eighth
grade students in Cincinnati Public Schools to make the “A”
honor roll each quarter. Students who make the “A” honor
roll two quarters of the year are invited to the Academic
Achievement Party at Paul Brown Stadium. Spokesmen
for the program include Marvin Lewis, Robert Geathers,
Domata Peko, Johnathan Joseph and Laveranues Coles.
Coach Lewis has been a tireless community activist
and youth advocate, making hundreds of community
appearances and using his celebrity to bring a voice to
many area needs.
He has strengthened the franchise’s ties to the community.
A partial list of organizations benefitting includes:
Wellness Community, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Children’s
Home, Cancer Family Care, Cincinnati Children’s
Hospital Medical
Center, Council
on Child Abuse,
Down Syndrome
Association,
FreeStore/Food-
Bank, Hamilton
County Special Olympics, Drug Free Cincinnati, Leukemia/Lymphoma
Society, One City Foundation, Cincinnati
Reds Community Fund, Richard E. Lindner YMCA,
Salvation Army, Tri-State Adoption Coalition, University
of Cincinnati, and Project Connect.
In recent years, Bengals players have continued to
increase their level of involvement in the community.
Last season, the Bengals made more than 150 community
appearances to schools, youth groups and teams and
charity events.
Many Bengals players have their own foundations
or sponsor charitable fund-raising activities dedicated to
improving the community. Those players include Darryl
Blackstock, Shayne Graham, Leon Hall, Chad Ochocinco,
Carson Palmer, Brad St. Louis, Andrew Whitworth and
Roy Williams.
Other team programs include:
NFL GRASSROOTS GRANT PROGRAM: The
Bengals and the NFL have teamed up to support youth
sports by contributing to local efforts to improve football
Scott Beseler
— 293 —
fields throughout the region.
More than $800,000
has been contributed in
the last few years to Withrow,
Oak Hills, Lockland
and Clinton-Massie high
schools to install state-of-the-art synthetic playing fields.
In addition to boosting football programs, these multi-use
fields serve as valuable assets for the entire community.
HOMETOWN HUDDLE: Annually, the Bengals
form a large delegation of players and staff and join with
recruited volunteers to accomplish a community project.
In 2008, the Bengals and the MLCF worked in collaboration
with the United Way and interested area companies to
construct a playground and a basketball court at College
Hill Park in Cincinnati.
COACH OF THE WEEK: A league-wide program
that is designed to give the recognition that high school
football coaches deserve for molding the lives of young
adults. Each winner’s school receives a $1000 donation
to the school’s football program.
PLAY IT SMART: A program designed to use
football as a tool for enhancing personal and academic
development for youth at economically disadvantaged
high schools. Team representatives visit the chosen
schools to coach, teach and mentor student-athletes to
help individuals reach their full potential.
CINCINNATI BENGALS TASTE OF THE NFL:
Bengals players, coaches and alumni join with benefactors
of the FreeStore/FoodBank of Cincinnati while dining on
samples from Cincinnati’s finest restaurants. The Bengals
Taste of the NFL has been held in June each year since
2003. The 2008 event netted record proceeds of $180,000,
and since its inception, Taste of the NFL has enabled the
FreeStore/FoodBank to provide more than 300,000 meals
annually for hungry people in the Tri-State. The Bengals
also team up with the FreeStore/FoodBank to collect
canned goods and other non-perishable foods for the
Annual Holiday Canned Food Drive.
HOXWORTH BLOOD DRIVE: Bengals players,
alumni, cheerleaders and staff are present annually at Paul
Brown Stadium to help the Hoxworth Blood Center collect
donations before the busy holiday season. In 2005, the
drive collected 401 pints of blood and earned the Bengals a
Special Recognition Award from America’s Blood Centers,
an organization based in Washington, D.C. The drive has
kept growing, and in three of the past four years, a new
record has been set for the largest single-day blood drive
in Greater Cincinnati.
CANNED FOOD DRIVE: For more than a decade,
the Bengals have conducted a canned food drive to
benefit Cincinnati’s FreeStore/FoodBank. More than
85,000 pounds of food and $68,000 in donations have
been secured.
TOYS FOR TOTS: The Bengals and the U.S. Marine
Corps annually team up at Paul Brown Stadium to collect
Christmas toys for disadvantaged local youth. More than
36,000 new toys and $200,000 have been donated.
Marissa Beck
STAFF
ROSTERS
VETERANS
2009 DRAFT CHOICES
COLLEGE FREE AGENTS
2008 REVIEW
HISTORY RECORDS STADIUM , NFL & MEDIA