Elizabeth Blackburn of the ownership group is the eyes and ears of the comprehensive carpet-to-cupholders rehab project and last winter led the Bengals’ traveling contingent to Longhorn Locker headquarters in Venus, Texas.
“We aimed to modernize the locker room with technology and a clean, cool design,” Blackburn says. “This renovation built upon the locker room’s original football shape but increased the ceiling height along with several other modifications to further open up the space to create a connected feeling for the team. We hope it’s an energizing, high-end, professional setting for our players every day.”
Allen sensed that Blackburn and her team of Bengals operations czar Jeff Brickner and equipment guru Adam Knollman sought a state-of-the-art locker room that met not only the growing needs of the modern player, but what they’ll need in the future. And, as always with any Blackburn project, there has to be a trove of tradition.
“She really wanted it to have a unique luxury feel. She didn’t want to buy something that looked like it came off the shelf. She wanted to really customize it to them,” says Allen, whose company has designed upgrades for a handful of NFL teams, among them the Bengals’ arch-rivals Chiefs and Ravens.
“It seemed like Elizabeth really had a great concept of how she wanted the elements of the Bengals tradition to be highlighted. There were a lot of things that she was very adamant that she wanted.”
Along with the stamp of her great-grandfather, Blackburn, the team’s director of strategy and engagement, had the lyrics, “And win this game for Cincinnati,” placed above the door leading to the field, an ode to the last line of the team fight song composed in the summer of 1968 leading into the inaugural season.
Also, when players pull out a patented shelving unit for accessories, they’ll be greeted by the words to their post-game benediction celebrating a win. Each shelf has lasered lines from “Who Dey Think Gonna Beat Them Bengals?” chant.
Plus, the “Established 1968,” logo lines the compartment to dry shoulder pads and the ancient and iconic running tiger logo leaps through the lockbox to close the huddle of past and present.
“We love legacy,” Blackburn says. “The lockers themselves provided several opportunities for Easter eggs where we could bring in historical elements for current and future players to see. It’s important for our current team to have appreciation for historical and fan elements. It hopefully inspires and motivates as they write their own stories into Bengals history.”