Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown told his team’s website that he didn’t watch their second Super Bowl defeat to the San Francisco 49ers for 25 years because of the disappointment of falling short.
Brown hasn’t watched last Sunday’s 23-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in full either.
“I looked at the tape. I saw what I wanted to see. I think I understand what happened. It’s in the past now is where it resides with me,” Brown said on Wednesday.
The Bengals had a pep rally back in Cincinnati on Wednesday to celebrate the magical run they made to the cusp of a championship. Brown is trying to be pragmatic about the result and the run the team made to put them in that position in the first place.
“It’s over. It’s in the books. There isn’t anything you can do to change it,” Brown said. “It doesn’t do any good to gripe. It doesn’t do any good to moan. Just move forward. You hurt for a time. But a week or two later it’s not so bad. You get over the hurt.
“It was a close run thing. We had won three in succession like that at the end before we played the Rams. It could have gone the other way. So could have the other three that got us there.”
The Bengals played four consecutive one-score games in the playoffs. A seven-point win over the Las Vegas Raiders and back-to-back three-point victories on the road over the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs gave Cincinnati their first Super Bowl appearance in 33 years.
“My one regret is I’m not carrying a new trophy,” Brown said to the assembled contingent at the rally. “The Bengals are real. The future is bright. You, our coaches and our players are going to have some trip.”
Brown rewarded head coach Zac Taylor with an extension on Wednesday that keeps him under contract through the 2026 season.
While the disappointment of coming up short lingers, Brown believes the team can build upon its success this season.
“I think we have the core of a top team, we’ll add to it and I think we can make it better,” Brown said.
