Vice President JD Vance made a stop at Bengals practice on Wednesday afternoon, spending more than a half hour on the field as Cincinnati gets ready for Sunday’s matchup with the Ravens.
After the practice visit, Vance’s group went through the locker room and the facilities. Vance grew up about 37 miles from Paycor Stadium in Middletown, and he was in town for a visit ahead of next month’s midterm election. He was elected Vice President in 2024.
The scene also included an unusual pre-practice conversation: Joe Burrow spoke with Bengals owner Mike Brown before the session began. It’s not the kind of interaction that happens every day during practice, even with Burrow in the middle of warmups, and it was hard not to wonder whether Brown was discussing Vance’s visit.
Vance has been open about his Bengals fandom before. Last year, on This Past Weekend Podcast With Theo Von, he made a pretty direct case for the team to sign Trey Hendrickson, even though the Bengals let Hendrickson walk in free agency and now will face him Sunday in Baltimore.
“Hendrickson is worth it, dude. He's a generational talent," Vance said.
"It's very hard to get a guy like that. It's kind of crazy how, like, I'm a big football fan, but edge rushers have become ...
It's almost like where left tackles were 10 or 15 years ago, where everybody just realized there's this really underpaid position that you gotta have. And so, yeah, I think we're [the Bengals] gonna have to pay Hendrickson.
"Here's what I'll say to Trey, if you're watching this show. If you're a Republican, I will show up to a Bengals game and take a photo with you if you sign on with the Bengals.
And if you're a Democrat, I'll stay the hell away. Just sign with the Bengals because we got a chance, man.
I say this every year, but with Burrow, with Ja'Marr Chase, if we get our defense and our offensive line, we could have a true championship run."
Vance, who is 42, has talked about the Bengals plenty in the past and has made no secret of wanting to see Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and the rest of the organization win a Lombardi Trophy. During Wednesday’s visit, his son wore a Burrow jersey.
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