In just one week, the Bengals will take on the Rams in the Super Bowl and fans all across the country are fired up for the big game.
Dalton Parde, 12, has been a diehard Bengals fan for years.
“I’ve watched all the old film of Boomer Esiason, Anthony Munoz,” he said.
He’s not from Cincinnati — he’s never even stepped foot in the city.
He lives in Kansas City with a family that supports the Chiefs.
Dalton became hooked on the team after he caught a Bengals game on TV and watched Andy Dalton play.
“I kept on hearing my name on the TV,” he said. “So then I started liking them and I started watching every single one of their games.”
When the Bengals beat the Chiefs earlier this year, his mom made him a promise.
“If we met in the AFC Championship, I would get us tickets,” said Andrea Parde, a Chiefs fan. “I thought that was a pretty rare possibility that that would happen.”
When it happened, she followed through. Dalton sported his stripes with pride, even while sitting next to family in red and gold.
“It was kind of I felt like I stuck out,” Dalton said. “I feel like I was the black sheep of the herd.”
After kicker Evan MacPherson clinched the Bengal's win over the Chiefs, Dalton was right there on the field celebrating side by side with Cincinnati natives.
“When all the Bengals fans were going down, you know, to the field, we went down there,” Andrea said. “Just watching him high five all the all the Bengals fans, it was just like a big family. And it was like they just they took him in and folded him in and just made him feel like he was part of the experience.”
Now, Dalton is gearing up for a win in Los Angeles.
“If the Bengals can play how they played the second half at Arrowhead, especially Arrowhead, then I think we can pull out the W against the Rams,” he said.
