Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor has always been a man of the people.
From his tradition of delivering playoff game balls to local bars around Cincinnati, to enticing fans to come into the stadium and be extra rowdy prior to games, Taylor has gone above and beyond to make Bengals fans feel special.
Even when that means picking up the check at a diner.
During his first press conference of his team's offseason workout program, Taylor was asked about a recent story involving him paying for the breakfast of fans wearing Bengals gear and his reasoning for doing so.
"My other son was in the basketball tournament Batavia. So I was with my younger son, Luke, and we were just trying to find some breakfast, and so we went into the diner there and had a great time. It was a smaller diner. There were several people wearing gear. And it's fun interacting with people seeing them wear Bengals gear. So I wanted to show my appreciation."
A free meal just for wearing team apparel? Now that's reciprocating support. It's a very cool story that further proves Taylor's genuine thoughts and feelings about the city and the fans of his team.
Batavia is not exactly near downtown Cincinnati, either. It's a good 20-25 minute drive from the center of the city. You never know where Taylor may pop up and show love back to the fans.
"I just like being out and about in the community, Taylor said. "I think you guys heard me say that and interacting with people. It is amazing. It's always 100% positive. I know there's there's a lot of negativity in the world that can happen online, all that stuff, but the interactions that I've had with people in the community is 100% positive and supportive and [I] always appreciate that. Love driving down the road and just seeing people wearing Bengals gear as they're out jogging or walking and so when I get a chance to go into these restaurants and see those people it's it's just fun to interact with them.
While the on-field product of Bengals football under Taylor hasn't always been pristine, he's earned quite a bit of good faith from the community for how much he's recognized the city and its people. Stories like this are not likely to end here.
"It does lead me to, hey, if I see people wearing Bengals gear. You never know. That may continue to happen. It may be something we stumbled upon there. That is fun."
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