The Cincinnati Bengals have upped their game on social media over the last year or so, smartly weaving in topical references and getting fans hyped for events.
Understandably, the Bengals went out this week and tried to get fans fired up for this weekend’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not only is there an obvious history there, the team’s coming out of a bye so firing off a little reminder wasn’t the worst idea.
And what else would the Bengals use besides a memorable Steelers-week moment? They brought out the gif of T. J. Houshmandzadeh using a “Terrible Towel” to shine his cleats:
Steelers Week 😤 pic.twitter.com/IKWEMIdump
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) November 10, 2020
And that apparently caused a ruckus.
Former Steelers player Ramon Foster got the ball rolling:
This never ends well….proud of you though lil bro. Dad(Steelers) said he home before the street lights turn on 😂😂😂 https://t.co/H2fUkKWXAK
— Ramon Foster (@RamonFoster) November 10, 2020
This led to former Browns, Seahawks, Steelers, Eagles and current Baltimore Ravens linebacker L.J. Fort to throw out the following:
PR team writing checks they ain’t gotta cash
— L.J. Fort (@i_Serve24) November 10, 2020
Funnily enough, Fort was also a former Bengals practice squad player at one point, for those who enjoy football trivia.
Either way, it’s hard to imagine actual Steelers players care too much about a tweet sent out by a member of the Bengals’ social media team. Had active players said something, we can talk about “bulletin board material” for real — but a little extra spice for Steelers week, with a random dash of Ravens, sure doesn’t hurt.
