Some football fans scream at referees. Some turn off the TV for a bad game. But one Bengals supporter wrote a letter that was so straightforward that it shook up Cincinnati.
Brian Frank, a local fan, said he shut off the Bengals’ season opener broadcast the moment he realized the team would not hold a moment of silence for murdered conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk. Then he put his anger in writing for the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Frank accused Bengals owner Mike Brown of caring more about “money and power” than “God.” He called Kirk’s killing “potentially more transformative than the death of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. combined.”
A Letter That Hit The Bengals
Frank said he felt “ashamed and appalled” that Brown and his family made no public acknowledgment of Kirk during the September 14 home opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Bengals won that game 31-27, but Frank said the result meant nothing to him.
He said, “I am ashamed and appalled that billionaire Mike Brown and his family chose not to recognize the recent death of Charlie Kirk at the Bengals home opener on Sept. 14,”
“I have learned through other channels that the Bengals won that game,” Frank wrote, “but I personally did not watch, as I turned the TV off when I saw the Bengals were not going to recognize the nationwide hurt, sadness and trauma that so many Christians like myself felt, especially on the Sabbath.”
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Other NFL teams showed their respect. The Green Bay Packers, Jets, Cowboys, Dolphins, Saints, Chiefs, Steelers, Titans, and Cardinals each held moments of silence for Kirk. But the Bengals joined the Lions, Vikings, and Ravens in opting against it.
The NFL explained the Packers were directed to hold a moment of silence during their Thursday opener. For Sunday games, the league left the decision up to each team. “Last night’s moment was the league’s decision. It’s up to the clubs for this Sunday’s games,” read the statement.
Meanwhile, police arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson after a two-day manhunt for Kirk’s murder at Utah Valley University. Authorities say Robinson voiced hostility toward Kirk’s views during a family dinner days before the shooting. His father ultimately turned him in.
Frank insists the Bengals failed to grasp the depth of grief many fans felt. His boycott threat may not move Mike Brown, who has run the franchise since 1991, but it’s a clear conflict between football and emotion.
