Bob Trumpy | Cincinnati Bengals - bengals.com
Arriving as a rookie on Paul Brown's original Bengals of 1968 as a 12th-round draft pick, he caught the franchise's first touchdown pass ever on a 58-yard throw from quarterback John Stofa that came to symbolize how he helped transform the tight end positon in the modern era. An all-around player whose blocking aided a grinding running attack, it was his breathtaking big-play ability down field that became a big factor in turning tight ends from afterthoughts into all-stars. His 22.6 yards per catch in 1969 is the second longest for an NFL tight end in a season and is the second longest of any receiver in franchise history. The only Bengal to be named to multiple Pro Bowls in both the AFL and NFL, he did it with four in a stretch from 1968-73. In that run he caught 216 passes for an average of 15.8 yards per catch, second best among NFL tight ends in those categories for those six seasons. He was also a trailblazer as an athlete when he made the transition to the broadcasting booth and went to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the 2014 recipient of the Pete Rozelle Radio & Television Award that capped a career he called four Super Bowls, four Pro Bowls, and six Hall-of-Fame Games.
