Bengals season ticket members recognized two of the most rugged and productive performers in franchise history when they tapped all-time leading rusher Corey Dillon and Pro Bowl nose tackle Tim Krumrie for the Ring of Honor in voting revealed Thursday.
Dillon's No. 28 and Krumrie's No. 69 are to be installed in Paycor Stadium Sept. 23 during halftime of a Monday night game against Washington.
"That was the whole thing. Production," said Krumrie, whose 1,017 combined career tackles lead all Pro Football Reference defensive tackles. "And finally the good thing is everybody recognized it. Fans recognized the production."
Dillon, who rushed for 8,061 yards from 1997-2003, returns to the building where his NFL-record 278 yards against the Broncos on Oct. 22, 2000 gave the Bengals their first win in Paycor.
"This is it. This is what it's supposed to be," said Dillon after Bengals president Mike Brown gave him the news.
"It meant a lot for me to hear these words. 'You deserve to be in there,' and I was like, 'I appreciate it. I deeply appreciate it.' And I just told him thanks for drafting me and allowing me to grow. And he thanked me for everything I did for the organization. It was just a good conversation."
Brown recalled how opposing teams rigged their defenses to stop Dillon during six straight 1,000-yard seasons.
"It didn't matter," Brown said. "He would just run through them as though they were in a passing setup."
During 12 relentless seasons from 1983-94, Krumrie never missed a non-strike game with a franchise-best 188 games among linemen. While re-shaping the nose tackle position, he led the team in tackles for five seasons, the last time at age 32.
"He had heart. He just didn't stop," Brown said. "He never stopped trying. He just thought that's the way you did it and it really is. Not everyone can match that."
Ring of Honor
The official source of Bengals Ring of Honor nominees, inductees, and more.
