Bengals Beat: Ted Karras Pleads With Fans To ‘Be Safe’ In Tennessee, Stunned By NFL Fan Violence

CINCINNATI — Ted Karras was at the heart of one of the big rallying cries for the 2022 Bengals.

It happened in Tennessee, as the Bengals left the field after a 20-16 triumph against the Titans that improved Cincinnati to 7-4 and helped catapult them to a 12-4 finish.

As Joe Burrow was taking a knee and killing the clock at the end, Jeffery Simmons punched Ted Karras and Karras got his revenge as he was walking off the field a winner. “Up yours, Tennessee!!”

“No regrets. It is what it is,” Karras said. “Justice was served, he got fined 11 grand. We’re gonna be back, it’s gonna be a grit-fest again. It wasn’t particularly at the Tennessee fans, but that’s what it was. I’m glad they didn’t get the stuff I was yelling at the Titans before that.”

If something happens again, Karras has no problem entering the lion’s den with his teammates.

“I’m sure they’ll have something for me,” Karras said. “I know all my guys will have my back. It’ll probably be a little bit chippy but that was boiling over with some stuff. Obviously, it went viral like it did. It is what it is. I’m sure the fans will have something funny. I never take for granted being in the show. I love it.

“It’s all business all the time. If you want to jeer me, that’s great. It’s going to be fun. Nashville’s got great fans. I’m sure we’ll travel exceptionally well. There will be a lot of orange in the stands, so looking forward to that, too.”

Of bigger concern to Karras is the uptick in violence in the stands. Of course, there have always been fan fights at football games. It happens when you combine alcohol and football. Usually, security and police are able to get a hold of it quickly. But when they don’t ugliness ensues.

A Patriots fan died when he got into with a Dolphins fan in the upper deck of Gillette Stadium on Sept. 17, only hours after a viral video emerged inside Paycor Stadium of a Bengals fan head-butting another.

The Patriots fan, it was discovered in the autopsy, had underlying conditions and his death was not directly linked to the trauma from the fight. But the point remains, no game is worth dying over.

“Be careful down there if you’re going to wear your Bengals stuff,” Karras cautioned. “There’s lots of fights in NFL stadiums. I’m really not happy about that. I’ve have my family. My family is going to games. There’s fights right in front of us at Paycor. I’m not a huge fan of that. We really need to curb that. Let’s not lose our minds guys, OK. We’ve got young kids and my wife in the stands and people are getting knocked out. So, let’s be careful and everyone, just take it easy, America.”

Karras was, of course, referring to the viral video of a fan, Andrew Giordano, head-butting another in the stands during the Ravens game on Sept. 17. Giordano was subsequently arrested.