Party like it's 1988. The Cincinnati Bengals are going to the Super Bowl. With their win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, the Bengals will go to Super Bowl LV, marking their return to the game after 33 seasons.
Cincinnati is two years removed from having the worst record in the NFL. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, the Bengals join the 1981 San Francisco 49ers and 2003 Carolina Panthers with the quickest turnaround from worst record to Super Bowl berth.
The Bengals had five consecutive losing seasons prior to 2021. Only the 1999 St. Louis Rams (nine straight seasons) had a longer string of losing seasons prior to reaching the Super Bowl. Breaking that streak worked out for the Rams, who won the Super Bowl that season.
But back to the glorious 1980s and the 1988 season.
The Bengals were the No. 1 seed in the AFC. They led the league in points, total yards and rushing yards. QB Boomer Esiason was the league MVP, throwing for 3,573 yards and 28 touchdowns. They rolled through the playoffs to face the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl. In the team's only other previous appearance, the Bengals lost to the Niners in Super Bowl XVI.
In Super Bowl XXIII, the Bengals would again lose to the 49ers. Jerry Rice had 215 receiving yards to earn MVP honors while Joe Montana threw for 357 yards and two scores. Esiason completed just 44% of his passes for 144 yards and an interception.
1988 was a long time ago. Here's a glimpse of what life was like in 1988.
"When you worry you make it double"
It's 3 minutes and 50 seconds of pure, stuck-in-your-head, one-hit wonder. Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy" was released in 1988 and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. It was the first a cappella song to chart that high.
For all its pop culture staying power -- it has appeared in movies in every decade since its release up to 2021 -- it has a mixed legacy for reviewers. It was listed as one of VH1's best one-hit wonders of the 1980s and, in 2011, was named the worst song of all time by The Village Voice.
An all-time World Series moment
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser was so good in 1988. He set a record for consecutive scoreless innings and wins. He won the Cy Young Award and World Series MVP. However, the most memorable moment of the 1988 series between the Dodgers and Oakland Athletics was Kirk Gibson's pinch-hit, winning home run in Game 1.
"And look who's coming up," Vin Scully said during the game broadcast.
Gibson, nursing leg injuries, limped to the plate with two outs in the ninth to face A's closer Dennis Eckersley, the MLB leader in saves. Facing a 3-2 count, Gibson muscled a homer, using just his upper body, over the right-field fence.
Year of the MVPs
Both Kevin Durant, of the Brooklyn Nets, and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, were born in 1988. Between them they have five NBA titles (two while playing together in Golden State) and three MVP awards.
Team USA sang happy birthday to KD.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 23, 2021
His birthday is in September 😂
(via @JaValeMcGee) pic.twitter.com/q6NvRQUBa3
Adele also was born in 1988. The breakup album has never been the same.
Bengals youth movement
Joe Burrow is the first quarterback selected No. 1 overall to reach a conference championship in his first two seasons. He joins Tom Brady as the only QBs to defeat Patrick Mahomes in the postseason, but he was not alive for Cincinnati's last Super Bowl run. His dad, Jim, was 35 in 1988 and in his second season as Iowa State's defensive coordinator. Or, three years younger than Bengals coach Zac Taylor is now. Only two current Bengals -- long-snapper Clark Harris and punter Kevin Huber -- were born before 1988.
R.I.P., Robin
In 1988, Batman lived almost exclusively in comics. It had been 22 years since he appeared in a movie. He also had a sidekick the readers didn't like. Editors at DC Comics did the sensible thing -- they let fans decide whether Robin should live or die.
Inspired by a "Saturday Night Live" sketch about killing a lobster, DC created a 1-900 number where fans could call and cast their vote on Robin's fate. After the vote, writers had Batman's archnemesis, the Joker, kill Robin in Batman #428, published in October 1988.
For Bengals fans at the time, they knew only Adam West as the live-action Caped Crusader. "Batman" starring Michael Keaton was released in 1989. For reference, since the Bengals' last Super Bowl appearance, and not counting voice actors, five different actors have portrayed Batman, with another on the way in March.