1. Right tackle Willie Anderson, (1996-2007)
The old gag from former Bengals public relations director Jack Brennan is that he would offer a high-pitched "beep, beep, beep," to signify the scribes backing up the truck of "fodder," to Anderson's locker during media sessions.
As great as Anderson was on the field, and he was merely the best right tackle of his time, a legit Hall-of-Famer, he was just as great dealing with being the locker room spokesman during one of the more chaotic periods in franchise history. Whether it was a coaching change, a rebellious star, a huge upset or strange loss, he not only was available for his take, he was so incisive and smart that he could boil down a myriad of issues so succinctly and well.
For the Bengals media, he remains Sinatra, Elvis and The Beatles all wrapped into one.
(And he's still doing it with a new and entertaining podcast that debuted, fittingly, a few weeks ago with Whitworth.)
Exhibit A, his reaction on Oct. 22, 2000 when the Paul Brown Stadium scoreboard flashed that Corey Dillon had broken Walter Payton's 23-year-old NFL single-game rushing record:
"I said, 'Oh, my God.' As a lineman or a running back, that's one of those records you think will never be broken. Impossible."
When Lewis arrived in 2003 and turned the program, Anderson seamlessly fell into leading a contending locker room, analyzing big AFC North matchups and Pro Bowl selections and with the talent of a network analyst broke down the evolution of a smash-mouth game to a wide-open derby. Anderson could and can break down trench technique and the next minute talk big picture. Even 20 years ago he was talking about how right tackles were being overshadowed by left tackles even as the pass rushers evolved all across the line.
The 2006 win over the Panthers at PBS featured Anderson at his best, blanking one of the most prolific sackers of all-time in Julius Peppers. In his 164th game in his 11th season, Anderson led a beleaguered line against a great Carolina front with the rookie Whitworth making his first start at left tackle in place of injured Levi Jones and center Eric Ghiaciuc making his fourth NFL start in place of injured Rich Braham.
"He had to have the game of his career," said offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski, "because of all the other things we had going on."
After the game, the Bengals.com headline read: "4-2: Take a bow, Willie."
"I was scaring myself," Anderson said. "That's the worst thing I do is listen to Sirius Radio."
He also revealed post game that on Saturday night at the team hotel he had watched tape on Peppers until 1 a.m. from discs that video director Travis Brammer supplied him.
"He's special," Anderson would say of Peppers, but then he was able to go the extra yard and say why:
"Like Jevon Kearse back in the day. A speed guy, but he's better coached than Kearse because he relies on more than just his speed. He bull-rushed a tackle last week and put him on his back."
As usual, Anderson had no help slid his way against Peppers even though it was against one of the best rushers in the game.
"I think the Bengals look at me like, 'Take this guy out for us,' " he said.
That's certainly how the media saw it.
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July 07, 2020 at 11:15PM
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