CINCINNATI — Despite being born and raised in Texas, Cameron Melendez's football fandom lies in the Queen City.
He said it started in 2009, when his dad, a Broncos fan, turned on one of their games against Cincinnati.
"I saw that tiger-striped helmet on the TV and was like, 'I think that's going to be my team,'" Melendez said.
That's all it took for Melendez to become a life-long fan.
Learn about Melendez's plans to attend every Bengals game in the video below:
When he looked at this year's regular-season schedule, Melendez found that the Bengals will travel the fewest miles among all 32 NFL teams.
"I looked at that and was like 'I could probably road trip that,'" Melendez said.
It wasn't just a thought. Now, it's reality.
He's committed to driving to every Bengals game this year.
But his commitment doesn't end at just making the journey. He's actually living out of his car to save up money for tickets.
His car is a tight fit for anyone other than himself. He has a makeshift closet, a laundry bin and a bed made up of couch cushions he got from Walmart.
"I wake up every morning confused, looking around like, 'Oh yeah, I'm in a car,'" Melendez said.
His journey started Week 1 against Cleveland, but he'll be traveling a lot farther this season. He'll go as far west as Denver and as far south as Miami.
In total, Melendez will drive more than 8,000 miles over the next few months.
"I'm prepared for it," Melendez said.
He does have some self-awareness about his dedicated trip.
"It's crazy," Melendez said. "It's absolutely crazy."
He may be alone in the car, but he's gained quite the following on TikTok, where he'll be documenting his entire journey.
So far, more than 4,000 people have followed him.
"It's already exceeded my expectations," Melendez said.
He said he's already had fans from other teams, especially Bills fans, reach out about meeting up at games.
While his weekends are mainly booked for travel and Bengals games, his weekdays will be pretty busy to fund his journey.
"Mainly funded by Uber Eats, DoorDash, so make sure y'all tip y'all's DoorDash drivers," Melendez said.
He said he buys most of his tickets online the day of the game.
Recently, Bengals QB Joe Burrow went down with a significant foot injury. While Melendez said it puts a damper on things, it means ticket prices are beginning to drop.
He encourages everyone to follow him on TikTok and greet him if you see him at a game.
Melendez has another 7,000 or so miles to go, but he's hoping it won't end after that.
"It's going to be a lot more because I'm gonna have to drive to San Francisco for the Super Bowl," said Melendez.
