Chad Johnson Answers Tough Questions About Bengals Ring of Honor Travel Perks

The sports world had plenty of fun reacting to the Bengals' generic email sent out to Ring of Honor members recently inviting them to this year's ceremony on Oct. 26.

former QB and current ROH member Boomer Esiason brought it to the forefront, highlighting two complimentary tickets for him and his peers and the free hospitality, which ended with flights not mentioned in the email and a hotel discount offered.

Fellow legend Chad Johnson, who went in the ROH with Esiason in 2023, said the legends do not sit in the stands with those tickets, but he danced around a question from h is Nightcap co-host Shannon Sharpe about who paid for the hotel.

Johnson claimed his girlfriend at the time handled travel.

"We sit in the suites. I don't know. I don't know what Boomer's talking about," Johnson said. "I went in. I went into the Ring of Honor with Boomer. Those who are part of the Ring of Honor. Alumni have been back once already. You sit in the suites. You don't sit in the stands. Now, as far as room and board go, I'm not sure that works. I always stay at the AC Hotel."

"Did it come off your credit card? Or did it come off their credit card?" Sharpe responded.

"I don't remember. I didn't book my stuff. My baby did she upstairs," said Johnson.

Sharpe then asked again and did not get a clear answer from Johnson. Regardless, Cincinnati is far from rolling out the red carpet like other multi-billion-dollar franchises do. Sharpe noted that, for his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction (not even a Denver Broncos directly led event), late Broncos owner < a href="/nfl/players/pat_bowlen/137291" class="yard_link">Pat Bowlen paid all expenses for 30 guests to attend the ceremony.

"I'll pay for 30 people to come and put 30 people up," Bowlen told Sharpe.

Sharpe was floored to hear this kind of treatment for franchise legends.

"'We blocked it off,' nah. Pay it off," Sharpe declared in a joke about the hotel-room blocking.

Check out the full exchange below and the original email from Esiason here: