Mr. Barker, a social studies teacher at Liberty, is a diehard Bengals fan. 

When the Rams played in St. Louis, Mr. Barker was a Rams fan just because they were the home team. When the Rams left for LA, Barker, like thousands of other Rams fans in the St. Louis area, was very upset and no longer had a team to consistently root for. 

When quarantine hit, Barker did some research and chose to begin following the Cincinnati Bengals who were “the worst team in the league” and “lost more games than anyone else.” 

The Bengals had a turnaround season this year and Mr. Barker was able to attend two playoff games. He watched the Bengals’ first home playoff win in 31 years. The other game he attended was at the NFC Championship at Arrowhead Stadium, where he sat almost as far back as you can while still being at the game. He cheered the Bengals to a thrilling 27-24 overtime win to advance to the Super Bowl.

Barker said he didn’t care how far away he sat. He was still overjoyed to watch his team do well. He has had more people tell him they are rooting for the Bengals during this season, than his entire time as a Bengals fan. The psychology teacher credits the Bengals’ success this season and in the postseason to luck and good free agents.