CINCINNATI — Tim Krumrie isn't much of a sport coat guy, but he's excited to make an exception at the Bengals' Monday Night Football game. The nose tackle nicknamed "The Cowboy" will don a specially-made blazer alongside former Bengals RB Corey Dillon as the two are inducted into the Ring of Honor.
Krumrie played for the Bengals from 1983 to 1994, racking up 1,017 tackles (700 of them solo tackles), 34.5 sacks, 13 fumble recoveries and 10 passes defensed. His tackle record stands in the NFL today, and his wife, Cheryl doesn't think it will ever be beat.
"To me, that's a pretty crazy record — and he has the record by at least over 100 tackles. So it's not a record, I think, that's ever going to be broken," she said.
He holds his high school tackle record. Same for college, too. He credits his abilities as a wrestler for being able to take someone down.
Dependable and tough, Krumrie didn't miss a game in his 12 seasons with the Bengals.
"Played every game," Krumrie said. "And wouldn't get subbed."
The reason? Krumrie smiled when he said, "because I was just getting warmed up."
The one game he had to leave early happened on a play where, as his wife describes it, the tibia and fibula on his planted leg exploded. It happened in the 1988 Super Bowl game against the 49ers, a play that has been seen millions of times and is always lumped in as one of the worst on-field injuries when lists of such things are created.
"I was coming in hot, meaning that my adrenaline was pumping hot the whole game and just self-inflicted injury, I just ripped out all of a sudden," Krumrie said. "I just planted and my foot came out."
He didn't want to come off the field. But he had no choice.
In the locker room, Krumrie said he asked for a television and a beer so he could watch the game. They wouldn't give him either. Moments later, he remembers Jeff Ruby walking into the locker room. Ruby told WCPO he said he told security he was with the team and to give his player what he wanted. He got that television and the beer within minutes.
"The Cowboy" wouldn't be down long. Krumrie was back in time to play the following season.
Krumrie said he developed a great relationship with owner Mike Brown, with whom he negotiated his own contracts. Through the years, he said their friendship and mutual admiration has continued. It was Brown who called him to personally tell him that fans voted him into the Ring of Honor.
"He says, 'Tim, I'm so proud of you because of your accomplishments that you did from the start ... you earned this. You didn't talk about it. You earned it. And you deserve it because you're a real football player and you're a true Bengal,'" Krumrie said.
This Cowboy doesn't get sappy often, but Krumrie admits he might shed a tear Monday night.
"When that tarp goes off, (and my) name, and it's really on the stadium ... that's going to be something special for me and my family," said Krumrie. "I think then that's going to set in. I don't know if it's going to be a tearjerker or not, but it's going to be close."
