NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Bengals superfan who hasn’t lived near Cincinnati since age 6 suddenly finds himself at the center of Bengal Nation.
Steve Edmonds, head of the Nashville Bengals Fan Club, said his cellphone and social media have been blowing up since Monday when the word came the Cincinnati Bengals were headed to Nashville for their next playoff game on Saturday.
“It’s been crazy,” Edmonds said. “We’ve been fielding questions from all sorts of folks coming from Cincinnati, as well as folks from Nashville who have just now discovered us so the activity around here has gone through the roof.”
Edmonds’ Nashville-based fan club has planned a “meet and greet” for fans coming from Cincinnati and elsewhere for Friday night (6:00-9:00pm) at the popular bar where Bengals fans meet in Nashville: Tailgate Brewery Music Row in Midtown. That will also be the location for their watch party for those who don’t have tickets to the game on Saturday and Edmonds said the bar’s manager is ready.
“He knows that we’re going to be loud and proud cheering on “whodey” and all that stuff so yeah it’s going to be exciting,” Edmonds said. “They’re bringing in tables and chairs. They’re bringing in more beer because they ran out last time so it’s going to be a great time.”
Edmonds suggests people arrive at the bar early on game day, and reminds Cincinnati fans that Nashville is on Central time.
“There’s plenty of other spots around though that can handle the overflow if we fill up, which I expect that we will,” Edmonds said.
Edmonds said he became a hardcore Bengals fan when he got his older brother’s team gear hand-me-downs at age six. The family had moved from Dayton, Ohio to Dallas. He said while big brother moved on from the Bengals he has remained loyal.
When asked his prediction for battle Saturday between the Bengals and the Tennessee Titans he said, “I tend to be a little bit of a realist. I am here behind enemy lines. I get to see the Titans play a lot. They’re going to be a tough team to beat so I think if I had to make a prediction it would Titans 17- Bengals 105. Who Dey!”
