Bengals TE Tanner Hudson’s 2 Touchdowns at Philadelphia Were Emotional for Reasons Beyond Football

CINCINNATI – Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tanner Hudson will never forget last Thursday night in Philadelphia, and for reasons more important than just the two touchdowns he scored.

Hudson’s father Danny passed away five years ago, and Thursday would have been his 69th birthday.

So the emotions already were strong as Tanner walked off the field excited about his two scores  – one a physical, lunging effort to get to the goal line on a 12-yard pass from Joe Burrow, the other a chance to show of his finesse and technique with a full-speed toe tap in the end zone on a 12-yard strike from Desmond Ridder.

But when Tanner got to his locker and looked at the messages on his phone, he saw a text from his sister Karlie that shook him.

“It said my grandma wasn’t doing well, and if I wanted to give her a call, it probably would be the last time I would get to talk to her,” he said. “So I called her right after the game. I don’t know if she was coherent or fully there, but I feel like she heard me and just knowing that means a lot.”

Margaret Inez Hudson passed away a few hours later at age 92.

“I like to think that my dad came and got her on his birthday, which is sweet,” Hudson said.

Margaret’s relationship with Tanner was so strong that it made the first paragraph in her obituary, which reads:

“She loved fishing trips, listening to good music, attending church, going to yard sales, visiting with family and friends, and watching her grandson Tanner Hudson playing football in the NFL.”

Monday was another tough day for Tanner as his family gathered for Margaret’s funeral.

Although the Bengals were only meeting, not practicing, and a 13-hour roundtrip drive would have be doable – and excused – Hudson made the difficult decision to stay in Cincinnati.

“I feel like I'm in a position where every rep, every meeting, every second of being in the building matters,” he said. “I have no doubt that (Bengals head coach Zac Taylor) would have been completely fine with me going to the funeral and being part of that, but I just felt like I need to be here. 

“I talked to my dad's brother, and he said, 'I completely understand, and Meemaw would completely understand.'" 

Hudson is one of six Bengals tight ends fighting for a spot on the 53-man roster, and the competition got stronger two weeks ago when the team added veteran and 2019 first-rounder Noah Fant to the mix.

Fant was the second of 16 tight ends selected in that draft. Hudson signed a free agent contract with Tampa Bay that spring after not hearing his name called.

When he joined the Bengals in 2023, they were his fourth team in five years.

He enters 2025 hoping to stick in Cincinnati for a third season of catching passes from Joe Burrow after signing a one-year, $1.2 million deal in March.

But Hudson finds himself stuck in the middle of higher-priced locks to make the roster such as Mike Gesicki (three years, $25.5 million) and Drew Sample (three years, $10.5 million) and a pair of youngsters in Tanner McLachlan and Cam Grandy, who are on inexpensive rookie deals – in addition to Fant.

“I work hard and grind every day to earn my spot on the team,” Hudson said. “It doesn’t matter if there are seven first-rounders on the roster or none, you never want to get comfortable in the NFL.”

Hudson caught 50 passes for 352 yards in 2023, but his production fell off dramatically in 2024 (19 catches, 154 yards) after the arrival of Gesicki and the drafting of Erick All, not to mention a costly fumble at the goal line in the season-opening loss against the Patriots.

That’s another reason why Thursday was so meaningful for him even before he received the upsetting news.

“I love being out there, getting a chance to go down and score for your team,” Hudson said. “Any time I can be out there playing, I thoroughly enjoy it.”

Asked which touchdown was more fun, the physical or finesse one, Hudson had an easy favorite.

“It felt good to get that first one in the end zone,” he said, admitting that felt the similarities to the miscue against the Patriots.

“That’s why it meant so much,” Hudson added. “Yeah, it’s preseason and it doesn’t count, but just learning from my mistakes – and that was a big mistake that I made last year in the first game – and coming back and getting in the end zone the way I did, yeah, it felt really good.”

Hudson was inactive as a healthy scratch in five games last year, one of which was the Week 3 contest against the Washington Commanders.

That’s the same team the Bengals will face Monday night.

Hudson hopes it’s another chance to find some redemption, and another shot for Meemaw to watch him play, this time with a better view.