The NFL is in the entertainment business.<\/p>\n
It delivers a product that millions of fans tune into every week. Even during the offseason, events like the draft, the combine, and the first wave of free agency generate enough news to drown out baseball scores and NBA updates.<\/p>\n
And then there are the jerseys.<\/p>\n
Fans of every team buy them. Home, away, alternate. Throwbacks. Limited editions. Special releases. Entire walls of every pro shop and sporting goods store in America are dedicated to them.<\/p>\n
I can only wear one at a time, and on game days, I have a personal rule: I only wear jerseys of active players. (That tradition has not always worked out in my favor.)<\/p>\n
Over the years, I\u2019ve been lucky enough to collect a few signed ones, too. I have jerseys signed by Ken Anderson and Chad Johnson. I have a signed Tee Higgins No. 85. I have a signed \u201cSalute to Service\u201d jersey from Vontaze Burfict.<\/p>\n
And I have a signed Irv Smith Jr. jersey that I won.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll come back to that.<\/p>\n
This column isn\u2019t really about the signed jerseys, though. It\u2019s about the ones that aren\u2019t signed and aren\u2019t worn anymore.<\/p>\n
I have a Rey Maualuga jersey. I have a Carson Palmer jersey. I have a Carlos Dunlap jersey. My wife has a Geno Atkins jersey, along with ones from Sam Hubbard and Kevin Huber.<\/p>\n
And they\u2019re all just\u2026 there.<\/p>\n
So what do we do with them?<\/p>\n
It feels sacrilegious to throw them away. I could donate them, but I\u2019ve always had trouble getting rid of anything \u2014 especially something that once brought me so much joy.<\/p>\n
And yes, the Bengals still somehow manage to bring me joy.<\/p>\n
Do you throw yours away? Drop them off at Goodwill? Try to sell them at a yard sale? I can\u2019t imagine there\u2019s much of a market for a jersey belonging to a player who isn\u2019t even in the league anymore, especially one that isn\u2019t signed.<\/p>\n
I know this isn\u2019t a real problem, but I am genuinely curious if I\u2019m the only one with a closet full of Bengals jerseys that I refuse to throw away, donate, sell, or wear.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the most random Bengals jersey you own? What do you do with your jerseys when the player on the back leaves in free agency or retires?<\/p>\n
And while we\u2019re at it, I\u2019d also like to know if anyone out there has a worse signed jersey than me.<\/p>\n
Because my signed Irv Smith Jr. jersey has somehow become a point of pride.<\/p>\n
Free agency is coming, and I really hope the Bengals prioritize locking up guys like Dalton Risner \u2014 and a few other pending free agents \u2014 before they start shopping outside the building.The team will have plenty of cap space to work with. Whether they spend it wisely is the only real question.Picking at No. 10, the Bengals are almost guaranteed to land someone who can help immediately. Every draft has surprises, and every year, at least one player falls further than expected.Trading back is also on the table, especially if it means adding picks \u2014 or even a player \u2014 while still landing an impact contributor.Trey Hendrickson\u2019s franchise tag situation remains one of the biggest storylines. On one hand, he\u2019ll be 32 and is coming off an injury-filled season. On the other, the Bengals aren\u2019t going to find a better pass rusher for less money in free agency.That money could be used elsewhere, though.There\u2019s also the tag-and-trade option. A first- or second-round pick seems unlikely, but a third-rounder isn\u2019t out of the question for a team desperate for veteran pass rush help.The Super Bowl is back in SoFi Stadium in 2027. Just sayin\u2019I haven\u2019t been a huge Olympics guy in the past, but the 2026 Winter Olympics were awesome to watch, even events I\u2019ve never paid much attention to, like figure skating and skiing. I\u2019m excited to see the Summer Olympics, and flag football, in 2028. Did you watch? If so, what did you think?<\/p>\n
If you want to destroy my sweater
Hold this thread as I walk away
Watch me unravel, I\u2019ll soon be naked
Lying on the floor, lying on the floor, I\u2019ve come undone<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NFL is in the entertainment business. It delivers a product that millions of fans tune into every…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":773201,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2054],"tags":[86,4226,1561,85,54,2337,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-773200","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-browns","8":"tag-browns","9":"tag-cincinnati-bengals-analysis","10":"tag-cincinnati-bengals-news","11":"tag-cleveland","12":"tag-cleveland-browns","13":"tag-clevelandbrowns","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116125678549481091","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/773201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}