By Loran Smith

CINCINNATI, Ohio - Paul Brown Stadium, the home of the Cincinnati Bengals, sits stately by the Ohio River, where six former Georgia football players are making a contribution to the central objective of a team that last sniffed a championship in 1988.

         The Bengals are the brainchild of the legendary Paul Brown, whose genius went beyond coaching.  The Bengals were originated by Brown in 1966 but have been a small market club without big-salaried players, which has led them to lowly finishes throughout their recent history.  At Cleveland, Brown and the upstart All-America Football Conference rivaled the National Football League in the forties.  Brown had won four AAFC titles when the Browns merged with the NFL in 1950.  Brown, the classic innovator, proved that he could compete in any league.  The Browns won the NFL title in 1950-54-55 after which their coach was let go by principal owner Art Modell.  Brown went looking for a franchise and settled on Cincinnati as the place he would like to start a team.  The NFL looked with favor on Brown and Cincinnati as a place to locate an NFL franchise.

         In the early seventies, Cincinnati was a perennial playoff team.  Later the Bengals won AFC titles in 1981 and 1988, but lost in the Super Bowl both times to the San Francisco 49ers.

         Brown retired from coaching in 1975 and died in 1991, having turned the team over to his son, Mike, who has had difficulty fielding a contending team.  That began to change when he hired Marvin Lewis to coach the team.   These Bengals have a new mission, which they refer to as "DNO," which means "Destination New Orleans," site of the next Super Bowl. 

"We certainly believe we can get there," Clint Boling, starting offensive guard who was a starter and a letterman for the Bulldogs in 2010.  "We have to believe in ourselves and we do," he said at Paul Brown Stadium following a recent practice.

         In addition to Boling, the Bengal roster includes former Georgia lettermen Dennis Roland (2002-05), Robert Geathers (2001-03), Orson Charles (2009-11), Geno Atkins, (2006-2009) and A.J. Green (2008-10).  Green, the outstanding rookie of a year ago, is one of the most popular athletes in Cincinnati. 

         "We saw what he did at Georgia," Boling said of his former Bulldog teammate, "and we told people when the Bengals signed him that they would be seeing a great NFL receiver.  Some people thought we didn't know what we were talking about, but A.J. showed them what he could do from that first day in training camp.  Everybody is a big fan of his now."

         Roland, who started his NFL career with the Cowboys and then spent two years with the Tampa Bay Bucs, came to Cincinnati in 2008 as a tackle but has often lined up at tight end. 

"If David Pollack hadn't gotten hurt, we might have seven Bulldogs on our roster," Roland laughed.  Roland and Geathers are the old timers of the Bulldog sixsome.  

         Following is a summary of the season for the six players through week 10. With a 4-5 record and having lost four games by 10 points or fewer, the Bengal-Dawgs still believe they have a shot at getting to the playoffs.  They remember what took place last year with the New York Giants.  The Giants were 9-7 in the regular season and won the Super Bowl.

         Geno Atkins, DT:  Started all nine games and leads the league in sacks by an interior defensive lineman with seven and that is tied for third overall among all players; Also tallied 28 tackles.

         Clint Boling, OG: Started all nine games at guard this season.

         Orson Charles, TE:  A backup at tight end, he has seen action in all nine games this season with two starts and has five catches for 70 yards.

         Robert Geathers, DE: Starter at LDE in all nine games with 19 tackles and 3 sacks.

         Dennis Roland, T/G:  Played in all nine games with two starts along the offensive line at tackle, guard and tight end.

         A.J. Green:  Started all nine games and ranks among NFL leaders with 58 receptions for 820 yards and nine touchdowns. Also, Green was named the AFC offensive player of the month for September.

(Photo Credit: Andy Ware, Cincinnati Bengals. L-R: Orson Charles, A.J. Green, Clint Boling, Geno Atkins, Robert Geathers, Dennis Roland).

With spring practice set to begin for the Georgia football team next Tuesday (a week from tomorrow) and the annual G-Day spring game set for April 14, which will be here before we know it, head coach Mark Richt sat down to touch base with the media before he heads out of town for his own "spring break" of sorts.

Richt started by talking about the team's somewhat different approach to strength and conditioning for the upcoming season, which includes two new hires in that department. Read about that here.

With Sherman Armstrong, the team is looking to "bolster the speed element," Richt said, as Armstrong has extensive experience working with all types of athletes on speed, strength and quickness. Meanwhile, John Thomas - who comes to Georgia after 20 seasons on the staff at Penn State - will specialize in high intensity training. Richt was pleased with the fact that the team will now be able to offer a diverse approach when it comes to strength and conditioning because the plans can be different for each player. "One size does not fit all" when it comes to strength and conditioning, Richt said.

The head coach also talked about the fact that spring practice is a great time to get back to the fundamentals and work on the little things. He is excited to get to see who is already showing they're ready to play football in the Southeastern Conference, and "which guys are mature enough to get into the ballgame."  

Finally, exciting news out of the press conference was the announcement that Richt as well as Todd Grantham have signed contract extensions and will be with the Bulldogs for many years to come. Read more about that good news here.

Full video of the press conference is here.

Can't believe spring ball is already almost here! Go Dawgs!