Archdeacon: ‘Suit guy’ outfits new Bengals star for success

Earlier, in a post-game press conference, he had said they were: “Grateful Dead Dunks.”

“They got a zipper on ‘em. I don’t know what for, but they got a zipper.”

He also wore a Grateful Dead T-shirt. And then there was his suit.

“I had the shoes and I told my suit guy to make me something that would match them for a Thursday night game,” Uzomah explained. “And he said, ‘Oh, I got ya!’”

Uzomah proudly motioned to his colorful threads: Blue jacket with bright green trim on the cuffs and collar and a matching green pocket square. Multi-colored lining inside his coat. And blue pants with a matching green stripe.

He flashed his big, piano-ivory grin, then said: “Sweet, huh?”

On this night there were just a few things sweeter for the 6-foot-6, 260-pound Bengal:

His performance on the field.

In the locker room at halftime.

And in the stands with fans right after the game.

He had a career-high two touchdown catches, a career-high 95 yards in receptions and a huge 25-yard catch in the final minute that set up rookie kicker Evan McPherson’s game-winning, 35-yard field goal as time expired.

Each one of Uzomah’s big catches came with an exclamation mark.

After a lethargic first half, Cincinnati trailed 14-0 at intermission, though Uzomah said he wasn’t worried:

“Coach said some stuff at halftime, how offensively we’re able to score in short amounts of time. That’s who we are. We can score on anyone.”

Uzomah was a big reason for that Thursday.

His first TD catch – on the opening drive of the second half – was a 22-yarder that included stiff-arming Jags’ safety Rayshawn Jenkins to the ground and then bulling through linebacker Myles Jack near the goal line.

His second score came midway through the fourth quarter and was orchestrated by Bengals’ quarterback Joe Burrow, who read the defense and directed him to rumble through a crossing pattern from the right side of the field toward the left sideline. This time Jack could not keep up with him and his 31-yard score tied the game, 21-21.

That set the stage for his most unexpected catch of the night, a “jailbreak” screen play that Burrow went to when he sensed an all-out blitz was coming. Never before had he targeted Uzomah on that play – not even in practice – but it worked like a charm.

It was the second time in this young, 3-1 season that the big tight end caught a crucial pass he’d never before executed even in practice. In the season-opening 27-24 victory over Minnesota, he caught a 32-yard pass in overtime that set up McPherson’s game-winning field goal.

“We have a great dialogue,” Burrow said of his growing reliance on Uzomah, best known previously as a blocker. “I trust him to be where I want him to be.”

Just as Uzomah made is presence felt on the field Thursday night, he did so also in the locker room at halftime.

One of the team captains, he and some other players spoke up after the winless Jaguars, who were riding an 18-game losing streak, had blanked them.

Uzomah is respected by his teammates. Except for punter Kevin Huber and long snapper Clark Harris, he has been with the Bengals the longest.

Drafted out of Auburn in the fifth round in 2015, he made the transition of head coaches – from Marvin Lewis to Zac Taylor – better than many other veteran Bengals (now gone), who balked at the new, young coach’s approach, which yielded a dismal 6-25 record in his first two seasons.

“You can’t change overnight,” Uzomah said. “People have to understand it’s tough to just say we’re flippin’ the switches. But it’s cool now. We’ve got some culture guys who have bought into the system and they’re just good players.”

Uzomah was a big part of that buy in and a lot of it goes to his upbringing.

‘I wouldn’t be here without him’

At the start of this season, there were 41 first-generation (like Uzomah) or native-born Nigerians in the NFL and several other players were from other African nations. That’s a result of globalization and especially the growing popularity of American football worldwide.

As an interesting side note, the first African player in the NFL actually debuted in Dayton in the very first NFL game, which was 101 years ago this Sunday. On Oct 3, 1920, the Dayton Triangles played the Columbus Panhandles at Triangle Park.

Wilkie Osgood Moody from Irabo, Congo, was a 23-year-old wingback for the Panhandles. The son of missionary parents, he served in World War I for the U.S. and later played for the Triangles, as well.

One trait shared by many of the first generation Nigerian players in the league today is that their parents were college students in the U.S. and they value family and education.

Uzomah’s dad, Xavier, is a financial analyst who got an undergrad degree at Southern Mississippi, an MBA and EMBA at Auburn.

His mother, Stephanie, has a doctorate degree in education and teaches kindergarten.

Uzomah has talked in the past how he grew up with daily chores, a strict curfew and an appreciation of the classroom. He and his father were even in some classes together at Auburn.

A backup in his early Bengals days, he had a solid season in 2018, starting 15 games and making 43 receptions, three for touchdowns.

In the second game last season, he tore his right Achilles and was out for the year.

He was given a game ball Thursday and said afterward he was giving it to Nick Cosgray, the Bengals director of rehabilitation:

“Nick helped me out with my rehab. What he was able to do to get me right was huge. I wouldn’t be able to be here without him.”

‘Joey Franchise’

Uzomah was thinking of a lot of Bengals on Thursday night:

“It’s awesome to see the team chemistry we have, the camaraderie we have. We’re just homies, we’re brothers in this. We’re having a good time.”

And that brings results he said: “We’re just stacking bricks.”

And the most masterful of the Bengal builders is Burrow.

Uzomah – who does a hilarious impression of the stoic quarterback in the heat of the game – called him “Joey Franchise. ... He’s the smartest person on the field at all times.”

In the locker room, he said the quarterbacks brought him into “the little Jeopardy game” they have: “But the questions! I’m like, ‘What the hell is this? I don’t know any of this stuff! Why am I here?’

“And (Joe’s) like, ‘Can I steal this one? I know this one!’”

As for rookie wide receiving star Ja’Marr Chase, who had another highlight reel 44-yard catch Thursday that set up his first score, Uzomah said:

“Ja’Marr’s a beast, an absolute freak of nature. It doesn’t look like he’s running fast, but he’s just flying. If you give him a step, he’s gone.”

Receiver Tyler Boyd led the team Thursday with nine catches for 118 yards, but seemed most excited for Uzomah.

“He was head butting me!” the tight end laughed. “And I was like, ‘Dude! I have to block these guys. Please stop head butting me. I’m hurting right now.”

Maybe so, but at game’s end Uzomah was feeling no pain. He yanked off his helmet, ran off the field toward the stands near the Bengals bench and leaped up into the arms of waiting fans.

He told NFL Network reporter Kristina Pink that he shared a beer with a fan:

“A guy was offering, so I just took it real quick, grabbed a swig and threw it back to him.”

He later joked: “It was good having them cheering for us and giving us beer, not throwing it on us.”

And that’s especially true when – like Uzomah was Thursday night – your “suit guy” has you dressed for success.