I remember Ickey Woods coming in as a rookie running back in
1988 from Nevada University. He was a speedster that weighed 230 lbs. and seemed unstoppable
on almost every play. I also remember
that year the Cincinnati Bengals had Boomer at QB, Chris Collinsworth as
receiver, and the “Eraser” at left tackle (all you Bengal fans, you know who I
am talking about). On defense, you had
the standout – Lewis Billups at corner and Tim Krumrie as a tough nose
defensive lineman who was just pure crazy.
These are a few of the guys I remember on that team that almost had “the
rings”.
Ickey always had that keen sense of finding the wholes
within the offense line and making big plays.
I scored a lot of touchdowns and you could just see (or at that time,
thought the Bengals would have him forever) that the guy had a bright future. However, it was what he did AFTER he scored
the touchdown that was so interesting – so crazy that everybody outside of
Bengaldom started to talk about it. You
had to see what I’m talking about – but that crazy little shuffle that was a
one two step to the right direction and one two step to the left
direction. For those of those who don’t
know what it was about, here is a little video of how it went:
The dance really caught on.
I remember one interview of Ickey – he was talking about how he came up
with it. One night, he was watching
television with his family, he just got up and started dancing in a stupid
manor. He then came up with a shuffle
that looked so ridiculous, people were laughing at it the first time he did
it. However, when he scored, people didn’t
mind it at all (at least Bengals fans).
Then all across the nation, people started doing it. It was easy to do after one practiced it for
a few minutes. 1-2 1-2 1-2 right, 1-2 1-2 1-2 left. Easy to do.
Within the above video, the NFL had players who wanted to “express
themselves” after scoring a touchdown, had to do it on the sidelines, not in
the endzone. However, I do remember
earlier in the year, they were allowed to “put on a display” after
scoring. I guess the NFL commissioner,
whoever it was at the time – didn’t like it and banned it (celebrating in the
end zone). Some people claimed it was
racism because more blacks were in the end zone than whites, therefore, the
commissioner didn’t like the excessive celebration and banned “performances”. If you ask me, I really don’t know – but that
could’ve been the case.
When the Bengals got to the Super Bowl that year, they
played Joe Montana and the 49ers. The
defense did limit Ickey’s performance, but both defenses were tough. Joe Montana, with under two minutes to go and
where down by four, made the infamous “drive” and scored the winning touchdown.
The next year, I believe it was the second game of the
season –this is what I’ll never forget. Ickey was running the ball and got hit and
tore his left ligament. He was out for
13 months and he when returned, his starting role was taken by Harold Green
(wow – the name rings a bell but I can’t really remember him that much).
As football season approaches this year and as a Cincy fan,
I am pretty optimistic to see the Bengal team take the field, it will be pretty
interesting. However, I’ll never forget
how the Bengals got to the Super Bowl that year – and that was with Ickey’s
running abilities. However, I forgot
about the touchdowns Ickey made, but it was the shuffle after the touchdown I’ll
always remember.
