Who Dey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Who Dey, mascot of the Cincinnati Bengals

Who Dey is the name of a chant of support by fans of the Cincinnati Bengals, an American football team. The entire chant is: "Who dey! Who dey! Who dey think gonna beat dem Bengals?" The answer screamed in unison, "Nobody!". "Who Dey" is also the name of the team’s mascot, a Bengal tiger.

[edit] Origins

Although the exact origin of the phrase is disputed, it had been made popular by 1981 in Bengals fans’ cheers for their team during their run to Super Bowl XVI. Some fans would do the chant and other fans would reply, “Nobody!”. The cheer again gained national recognition in their 1989 appearance in Super Bowl XXIII. Due to the success of the Bengals team in the 2005 season, the chant is again gaining popularity. Different theories of the origin of the chant exist. One possible source is a 1980 commercial for Red Frazier Ford of Cincinnati, which used this tagline: “Who's going to give you a better deal than Red Frazier? Nobody!” Cincinnati fans who had seen the commercial many times may have just copied it when cheering.