CINCINNATI — At Rally House in Norwood's Rookwood Plaza, Cincinnati Bengals fans streamed in and out of the store carrying Bengals hats, jerseys, shirts, socks and just about every other orange and black colored knickknack one could imagine.
We found a rubber chicken wearing a Joe Burrow jersey, large foam claws, mini-helmets and street signs just to name a few of the more unconventional items.
Life-long Bengals fan Jack Neumeyer was flipping through t-shirts when we asked him what he expected from the coming season.
"They should be good for sure. Especially this year, they should be the best they've been," he said. "The competition in the rest of the conference is weak."
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Neumeyer said the coaching change in the rest of the AFC North gave him confidence, and the unusually aggressive pursuit of players through free agency or trade in the off season was a refreshing change of pace.
He said the team's decision to trade their tenth overall draft pick to the New York Giants for defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence gave him a lot of hope.
"I may have never seen them make a trade this big, ever," Neumeyer said.
Store Manager Benjamin Woeste told us Lawrence's jersey has been a big seller.
"We've reordered his jersey already," Woeste said.
The new on-field apparel worn by players and coaches have been popular as well with anything in orange flying out the door, he believes, because of the team's "Open in Orange" game against Tampa Bay on week one.
"That's the biggest thing, is everyone knows that it's orange. They're in here looking for that," Woeste said.
