As Bengals president Mike Brown watched his team practice Thursday, it was as if he could see No. 66 out there the day after Bill Bergey passed.
"He was as fine a linebacker as we ever had here," Brown said. "I was really saddened to hear of it. It has an impact on me."
Bergey, 79, voted by the fans as one of the top 50 Bengals of all-time, died of cancer Christmas Day.
A second-round pick of the Bengals in 1969 out Arkansas State, Bergey went to the Pro Bowl as a rookie in the last season of the AFL. When Bergey signed with the upstart World Football League before the 1974 season, the Bengals traded him to the Eagles for a price that showed just how much the pro game thought of him.
A first-round draft pick in 1977. A first-rounder and second-rounder in 1978.
"It was a good price and he deserved a good price. He played very well and had a number of good years with the Eagles," Brown said. "He had the size and he could run. He was a bona fide linebacker. Back when middle linebacker was probably considered the most important position on the defense. He could impact the run game and participate in the passing game."
Bergey went on to become an icon in Philadelphia, where he went to four Pro Bowls and helped lead the Eagles to their first Super Bowl during what turned out to be his last season in 1980. He then became a popular radio announcer for the club, as well as a frequent alumni speaker and member of the Eagles Hall of Fame.
Bergey also left quite a legacy in Cincinnati, as well as some of his fondest memories.
With the first pick in that '69 draft, the Bengals selected University of Cincinnati quarterback Greg Cook and he went on to become the AFL Rookie of the Year and passing champion despite suffering a career-ending shoulder injury that season.
"Greg was our best player on offense and Bill was our best player on defense," Brown said.
Cook, who died in 2012, also served as the best man at Bergey's Arkansas wedding. Bergey is survived by the wife he took that day, Mickey, his three sons, Jake, Jason, and Josh, 10 grandchildren,
"I really enjoyed my five years in Cincinnati. I played (seven) years with the Eagles and I really remember more about my Bengals days," Bergey told Bengals.com in 2017. "I had just got married. I had my first kid. Had my first paycheck. The team was close. We were young and hungry."
Even though his last snap for the Bengals came in the sixth year of the franchise in 1973, the fans voted him No. 32 on the list of the club's top 50 players, and he returned for a game to be honored.
"We really had a pleasant visit when he came in," Mike Brown said.
Although Bergey and the Bengals ended up in court over his WFL contract, he remained on good terms with Mike Brown, as well as Paul Brown, his first pro head coach.
Back in 2017, Bergey recalled he went to the Super Bowl the year after he retired to root for the Bengals, and saw Paul Brown sitting in a roped-off section. He went in anyway.
"I said, 'Hi Paul, my name is Bill Bergey. I used to play for you.' Just trying to be cute," Bergey said. "He says, 'I know who you are.' He said, 'If I would have known you would have been that good of a player and you would have that longevity in you, you never would have been traded from me.
"He pretty much said with your reckless style of play, I wasn't sure if it was going to be the next play when you were going to break an arm or a leg and that was going to be it. It was a great conversation. I have nothing but wonderful thoughts of Cincinnati."
