After an offseason that screams frugality for the Cincinnati Bengals, where Trey Hendrickson looks like a trade waiting to happen, the team is even pinching pennies with their Ring of Honor ceremony. Former Bengal Boomer Esiason, the second MVP in franchise history and now one of 10 Ring of Honor inductees, revealed that although he received an invite for the upcoming October event, he’s the one stuck footing the bill.
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Esiason says he was given only two tickets, with the option to buy more. The team offered him a “block of rooms” at a discount, which he would still have to pay for. And for the flight, Esiason figured that was on him, too. Real classy, Bengals.
Reacting to all this, Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe couldn’t believe it. With a resume like his, and for two franchises, the Broncos and the Ravens, Sharpe said nothing like that ever happened to him.
“Anytime, anytime, [the Ravens and the Broncos] have something, alumni weekend, they have somebody being honored, somebody’s going into the Ring of Fame, somebody’s getting their Hall of Fame ring, they will bring the alumni back, pay for them to come back, [and] put them up at no cost. They will have suites. So, the players can go in there and have a good time,” Sharpe revealed on Nightcap.
“But not the Bengals. The Bengals say, ‘Nah, you get out there with the rest of the fans,'” he added.
This is where Chad Johnson stepped in. The former Bengal and Ring of Honor inductee clarified to Sharpe that the invitees won’t actually be sitting out in the stands with the fans.
“No… We sit in the suite. I don’t know. I don’t know what Boomer’s talking about. I went in. I went into the Ring of Honor with Boomer. Those who are part of the Ring of Honor. Alumni have been back once already. You sit in the suites. You don’t sit in the stands,” he said.
Clearly, there’s some miscommunication here. Esiason never said anyone had to sit in the stands … that was Sharpe’s spin. Still, even Johnson wasn’t sure about the flight and accommodations.
“Now, as far as room and board go, I’m not sure that works. I always stay at the AC Hotel,” he claimed.
“Did it come off your credit card? Or did it come off their credit card?” Sharpe pressed. And Johnson didn’t sound very convincing in his reply: “I don’t remember. I didn’t book my stuff. My baby did, she upstairs.”
Sharpe and the other co-host of the show, former basketball star Iso Joe Johnson, insisted that when an invitation like this comes, it should be fully covered. But Johnson laughed it off … implying that athletes, who already have plenty of money, shouldn’t complain about paying for hotel rooms and plane tickets.
Sharpe topped that reply with a classy gesture from Broncos owner Pat Bowlen. He let the former TE bring 30 guests, all expenses covered, for his Hall of Fame induction. And we side with Sharpe and the Broncos owner here because that’s how it should be.
