Orlando Brown Jr. helps Cincinnati mayor get NFL schedule announcement right

When the mayor of Cincinnati wanted to announce the Bengals’ scheduled game against the Kansas City Chiefs, he turned to Orlando Brown Jr. for some help.

Gotta give Aftab Pureval a lot of credit at this point. Most politicians seem unwilling to change and grow with the position, but Pureval, the mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, seems like an approachable man of the people—someone open to working across the aisle, at least in a sporting sense.

It wasn’t so long ago that Pureval was referring to the Chiefs’ home stadium as Burrowhead—in reference to Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow—and generally talking trash about Kansas City’s chances of beating the Bengals in the AFC Championship game last winter.

Following the loss, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce vented some steam after apparently taking exception to the mayor’s comments saying, “I’ve got some words for the Cincinnati mayor. Know your role and shut your mouth, you jabroni!” Some of Kelce’s words for the mayor have even been immortalized on Chiefs shirts and signs.

Even then, Pureval took things in stride and admitted his errors so perhaps we should have seen a better demeanor coming this year. This is from after the AFC Championship:

For his part, Kelce took it all back on his New Heights podcast with his brother Jason Kelce. At this point, it’s clear the waters are calmer between the teams. And when given a chance to stir things up a bit for this season, Mayor Pureval decided to bring in a familiar face to help him film a video announcement. Instead of talking trash, it seems like some lessons have been learned.

We’re glad to see all parties involved playing nice and we’ll credit the Bengals with a clever video. We also know the real on-field meeting is going to be a thrilling rematch in Week 17 with the potential to decide the top seed in the AFC.