Last Friday, Nick Lachey, a Cincinnati native and former member of 98 Degrees, released a new song titled "Sell ‘Em Mike Brown" on his YouTube channel, expressing his disappointment in the ownership of his hometown's NFL team, the Cincinnati Bengals. Lachey's song, with a straightforward message pleading with team owner Mike Brown to sell the Bengals, touches on the team's persistent failures and questions Brown’s decision-making. "Sell ‘Em Mike Brown. Stop playing a clown, baby" Cincinnati.com reports Lachey as singing in the song's chorus, "Quit bringing my Bengals down."
This musical outcry is not the first time Lachey has openly criticized Brown and the Bengals' management. On January 5, Lachey blasted the decision to keep head coach Zac Taylor and director of player personnel Duke Tobin, calling it “a slap in the face to all Bengals fans.” He elaborated, saying that not making a change was to show contentment with the status quo, suggesting a lack of concern for fans or the city. "When something isn’t working anymore and this clearly isn’t, you change. You adapt. You move on. To not do so is to admit that you have zero problem with the outcome you’re currently in,” Lachey wrote in an Instagram post, as per FOX19.
The Bengals' performance has been subpar since Brown took over team ownership in 1991, missing the playoffs 26 times out of 35 seasons. Their record in the past season was a notably poor 6-11, yet another disappointment following a promising Super Bowl run in the 2021-22 season. Despite having stars like Joe Burrow on the team, critiques have been raised about the team's personnel decisions, especially relating to draft picks, which Lachey references early in his song. "Time and time again, we've seen it slip away, boy," sang Lachey. "Cause they ain't got not plan, no, no, no, no, no. Another draft done in vain, more and more of the same, and it's slowly driving me insane," detailed in the lyrics obtained by WLWT.
Apart from the evidently frustrated Bengals fandom, Lachey's song also includes references to other notable Bengals figures, such as former quarterback Boomer Esiason, who has had his own public grievances with Brown's cost-cutting measures. "I got Boomer on the phone. He wants you to leave Cincinnati alone," Lachey sings towards the end of his track. Lachey maintains a long history with the Bengals, expressing hope and disappointment on multiple occasions, and now at 52, he continues his crusade for a change in ownership and leadership for a team he has supported all his life. Meanwhile, Lachey is also making his mark in the entertainment world by being part of an announcement that Ohio will play host to Netflix's "Love is Blind" for its tenth season next month, a detail highlighted by WLWT.
