SAO PAULO — It’s not just fans in Buffalo and Cincinnati that will be glued to the game this weekend. Fans across the globe will be watching too.
“Ten years ago, I had the feeling that maybe and probably I was the only single Bengals fan here in Brazil,” said André Morelli-Faria, who lives in São Paulo.
Morelli-Faria doesn’t have a direct connection to Cincinnati, other than a pen pal he communicated with from Northern Kentucky about 10 years ago. When he discovered a love of American football, the Bengals stole his heart.
“I knew the Bengals didn't have the best winning record, but it was something about those group of athletes,” he said. “They caught me. I mean I just fell in love with them.”
Last year, his dream became a reality. He visited Cincinnati during Super Bowl weekend.
“I think the whole city was about to just explode to joy and happiness,” he said.
He’s not the only fan sporting stripes from afar.
“I love the uniforms,” said Steve Roberts, a fan in Australia. “Tigers are my favorite animal and I just thought, ‘Well, it's a natural thing to follow the Bengals.’”
Roberts has been a fan since around 1990. He met Adrian Wood, a fellow Aussie and Bengals fan, online.
“I am the only Bengals fan within like a four- or five-hour radius,” Wood said.
They started the “Bengals Fans Down Under” group to bring Australian fans together. The group has nearly 200 members so far.
“Having these almost 200 people to talk to, to communicate with, to laugh about, to celebrate with,” Wood said. “For me personally, being a Bengals fan is about not feeling isolated.”
“Normally, we'll get 3 a.m., 4 a.m. kickoffs,” Roberts said. “A lot of us will actually get up to watch the games live.”
It’s a small price to pay to follow along with the team’s success.
“We've sat through a lot of really poor years,” Roberts said. “But just seeing us in that Super Bowl run, winning every week, every single playoff game. It was a it was absolutely magical.”
While they may be thousands of miles apart, the Bengals have brought these fans together.
“When you spend 10 years of your life watching the same team playing, I think it's impossible not to love the city, the other fans,” said Morelli-Faria. “Part of my heart is in Ohio, in Cincinnati. It’s for real.”
