Seems just like yesterday. Going to Bengals games with my Dad, watching the team get smashed week in, week out, and hearing my father say :

Don’t worry son: They’re not booing, they’re saying ‘Klin-gler’”.

No worries, Pops: Your boy is back in business … wait, Dad! Stop hyper ventilating: He’s not returning to the Bengals. I promise. Dad, please, sit down. Relax. I wouldn’t steer you wrong. Have some water.

Turns out David Klingler, the guy who made Cincinnati fans yell “God Damn!” more than any other in the team’s history, now teaches the word of God (we’re assuming damn’s not in the curriculum, but don’t have confirmation). According to this website, David’s been a PhD student at the Dallas Theological Seminary, has been an instructor at the College of Biblical Studies, and preaches at church on Sundays.

“If I didn’t prepare or if I didn’t perform on game day, then not only I but my whole team suffered,” Klingler told the Seminary’s Kindred Spirit magazine. “In my studies at Dallas Seminary I have come to realize that my life and ministry affect me, and that my actions affect the body of Christ as a whole.

“And now I apologize to anyone in Cincinnati who wanted to jump off the Carew Tower after watching me play” …

Ok, he didn’t say that last part.

In case you forgot, the Bengals one of the NFL draft’s biggest blunder in drafting Klingler number six in the 1992 draft, passing on future pro bowl cornerback Troy Vincent. Despite throwing what seemed like a hundred touchdowns in the Nintendo-like University of Houston offense, Klingler threw just 16 (and 22 interceptions ) through his four years and 31 games in Cincinnati. Mercifully, halfway through the 1994 season Jeff Blake replaced him, and after a 4-year passer rating of 65.1, the Bengals let him go after the ‘95 year. Klingler spent a couple years backing up in Oakland before ending his football days.

Besides lovin’ the lord, Davey’s also done color commentary for Houston Cougars’ radio. While he’s got his hand still in football, he seems content not playing the game, something a number of ex-NFLers can’t do.

So for Bengals fans everywhere, David, we applaud your success post-NFL. Just keep away from Paul Brown Stadium - we have enough problems there already.