Bengals founder and pro football pioneer Paul Brown, who invented everything from the playbook to the radio helmet, would be quite comfortable standing in front of his team's new locker room that huddles up the latest technology with the earliest traditions.

After a beehive of work began in the wake of last season, Joe Burrow and company began moving in before Tuesday's practice to find their old space wired for the 21st century with trim from the Bengals' 1960s origins.

A programmed lighting system worthy of a small city blinks according to the time of day.

A total of 93 "beast lockers," stand sentry, each weighing about 800 pounds with a 24-inch electrical panel that juices everything from a wireless phone charger to Bluetooth lockbox.

A huge outline in the shape of a football covering a ceiling that has been raised hovers over it all.

"There's nothing like it in the world. It's a locker designed only for them," says Sam Allen, owner of the Texas-based Longhorn Locker Company charged with the project.

"What the Bengals have is the cutting edge. This is the most intricate, most expensive, most involved, and required the greatest number of hours."

The Bengals are the only team anywhere to have lockers with internal lighting from eight LEDs certified by a national safety standard. Each locker has nine drying fans to work on sweat-soaked helmets, shoulder pads, and cleats. A lift-up footlocker storage compartment sits in the middle of each, stamped with the "Paul E. Brown," laser-engraved autograph.

No doubt about it. The days of hooks and hangers have officially gone the way of training camp two-a-days. The planning even included sizing the containers of the largest protein drinks so they'd fit the cupholders in each locker.

"It's sick," said Burrow when he got a sneak peek last week. "The more we continue to invest in stuff like this, the more comfortable the players are going to be. We're going to love coming into work. I'm really happy with it. It's quite an upgrade. Credit to ownership for putting this all together."

Elizabeth Blackburn of the ownership group is the eyes and ears of the comprehensive carpet-to-cupholders rehab project and last winter led the Bengals' traveling contingent to Longhorn Locker headquarters in Venus, Texas.

"We aimed to modernize the locker room with technology and a clean, cool design," Blackburn says. "This renovation built upon the locker room's original football shape but increased the ceiling height along with several other modifications to further open up the space to create a connected feeling for the team. We hope it's an energizing, high-end, professional setting for our players every day."

Allen sensed that Blackburn and her team of Bengals operations czar Jeff Brickner and equipment guru Adam Knollman sought a state-of-the-art locker room that met not only the growing needs of the modern player, but what they'll need in the future. And, as always with any Blackburn project, there has to be a trove of tradition.

"She really wanted it to have a unique luxury feel. She didn't want to buy something that looked like it came off the shelf. She wanted to really customize it to them," says Allen, whose company has designed upgrades for a handful of NFL teams, among them the Bengals' arch-rivals Chiefs and Ravens.

"It seemed like Elizabeth really had a great concept of how she wanted the elements of the Bengals tradition to be highlighted. There were a lot of things that she was very adamant that she wanted."

Along with the stamp of her great-grandfather, Blackburn, the team's director of strategy and engagement, had the lyrics, "And win this game for Cincinnati," placed above the door leading to the field, an ode to the last line of the team fight song composed in the summer of 1968 leading into the inaugural season.

Also, when players pull out a patented shelving unit for accessories, they'll be greeted by the words to their post-game benediction celebrating a win. Each shelf has lasered lines from "Who Dey Think Gonna Beat Them Bengals?" chant.

Plus, the "Established 1968," logo lines the compartment to dry shoulder pads and the ancient and iconic running tiger logo leaps through the lockbox to close the huddle of past and present.

"We love legacy," Blackburn says. "The lockers themselves provided several opportunities for Easter eggs where we could bring in historical elements for current and future players to see. It's important for our current team to have appreciation for historical and fan elements. It hopefully inspires and motivates as they write their own stories into Bengals history."

Early returns are the current players are all in.

"It's amazing," said wide receiver Tee Higgins of his first look. "A lot more space. The lockers are nice. I think the guys will love it. They really outdid themselves. They took it to another level for sure."

The new locker room's most stunning features are the lights. They're so impressively cutting edge that Bengals president Mike Brown couldn't resist offering a few hints during his annual training camp address to the team last week.

Knollman and his locker room staff can set the lights so they match the mood of the mission. Soft glow of morning? Floodlights for midday? As practice time nears and the afternoon rolls on, or a game is approaching, the most suitable environment can be summoned at a keyboard.

"I love what they did. It looks good. It gives us the opportunity to see our colors for real. A little darker in the morning, brighter later in the day," said wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase.

When the lights come up, you can't miss the glistening refrigerator next to Burrow's locker.

"It's open to any and all," says Burrow, which is pretty much how his new locker room feels.