This classic team logo is a special one that was used in 1997 to celebrate the Cincinnati Bengals’ 30th anniversary as an NFL franchise. The team actually started in the old American Football League, but team founder Paul Brown had only agreed to join the AFL after he was assured the league would merge with the established NFL, since he was convinced that the AFL was an inferior product. The start of that ’97 season was disastrous for the team, as they lost seven of their first eight games. The Bengals then inserted Boomer Esaison, whom they had re-acquired in the off-season even though he was in the twilight of his career, at quarterback and then won 6 of 8 to finish the year at 7-9.