Tyler Powell Home History of Cincinati Bengals Origin of Who-Dey Ring of Honor
 

What is the 'Who Dey?' chant?

When Cincinnati scores touchdowns at home games, the team fight song "The Bengals Growl" fight song plays. It’s still not really real words. Definitively not a phrase that can be looked up in a dictionary. But it’s something we scream. So it's only everything – and nothing. And the truncated Bengals battle cry is everywhere this season. Technically, it’s a big part – more than 50 percent big – of a boastful question of who could defeat the Cincinnati squad, now sitting atop the AFC North. The full chant? "Who dey, who dey, who dey think gonna beat dem Bengals?”

 

Where did "Who-dey" actually come from?

 

The most popular origin story involves a Cincinnati beer from the Hudepohl Brewing Company. For what it's worth, those commercials from the 1980s are fantastic: Beer vendors at the old Riverfront Stadium would shout "Hudy!" to sell to fans, and that made a natural transition to "Who Dey?" in the stands.