Check out this article from Bengals forum on "who dey" chant (1 Viewer)

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Saw this article on a bengals forum on how we ripped off "who dat" from them.


from boards.bengals.com
History of "who dey"
Rumors (It came from the Saints, It came from Alcorn State University, It came from LSU.)

Today you learn how it got started, when it started and where it traveled once it became popular. It started in November of 1981. And following is the stepping stone to it's arrival.

The Bengals were going up against the Steelers in the middle of October. Both had records of 4-2. The Steelers lost their first two games and then went on to win 4 in a row. It was the lowly Bengals playing the Super Bowl Champs of 1979 who was 9-7 in 1980. It was a big deal beating the Steelers because the Bengals already were defeated by co division leaders Houston and Cleveland who were 11-5 the year before.
At that time Pittsburgh was the big game of the year. That and Buffalo who was 11-5 also in 1980. The Buffalo Bills game didn't mean as much because the Bengals only beat teams that had worse records than them in 1981 before that game. The first two games were against the Jets and Seahawks who had records of 4-12 in 1980. And Baltimore who won 1 more games than the Bengals in 1980.
The Pittsburgh game meant more than all other games at the time. The Bengals Superbowl at the time. They won their Superbowl beating the Steelers 34-7. But the Bengals had a let down game following that game going against the Saints or (Ain'ts at that time). Losing 17-7.

The future didn't look bright. Because next on the schedule every team had a winning record the year before. And the next 3 team were 11-5 after the 1980 season. First Houston who already beat us, then the Chargers and Rams. All three were in the playoffs the prior two years,The Rams and Oilers prior 3 years. San Diego was picked to win the Superbowl in 1981. Plus we had Cleveland again, who were 11-5 and Atlanta who finish 1980 at 12-4. Five of the teams had a total of 24 loses in 1980

Cincinnati went on a great run. After starting out 5-3. They beat Houston by 13, San Diego by 23 and Los Angeles by 14. The chant started after the San Diego game. Second game of November. The Bengals had 5 games in November and won all 5. Beating every team by more than 2 TD's. The Bengals only lost one more game all the way up to the Superbowl. That game was against the 49'ers who they also played and lost to in the Superbowl.

The chant started, Who They think is going to beat them Bengals. ( Cincinnati was on a roll.they were 7-3 a season after they finished 6-10 and prior two seasons 4-12) When some hollered, "Who They think is going to beat them Bengals" Other fans would reply with "Nobody"
A week or two later. The whole chant started to grow, and the nobody was stretched out to Noooo Boooooooody. Coming from an old car commericial of (Red Frazier Ford ) who was out of business at the time. But had a very popular commercial, Who's going to give you a better deal than Red Frazier? Nooo Boooody.

Following that, the chant put was on a 45 record. Recorded by Cincinnati's WLW weatherman Who's first name was Zip.



From the banks of the Ohio comes that orange and black machine
They're the Cincinnati Bengals The finest ever seen
With stripes upon their helmets and fire in their eyes
They'll take the field they will not yield
They're strong and tough and wise
Who Dey.Who Dey, Who Dey think gonna beat them Bengals
Who Dey, Who Dey, Who Dey think gonna beat them Bengals
Who Dey, Who Dey, Who Dey think gonna beat them Bengals
Who Dey, Who Dey, Who Dey think gonna beat them Bengals

Hear that Bengal growling, mean and angry
See that Bengal prowling, lean and hungry
An offensive brute, run, pass, or boot
And defensively, he's rough errrr tough errrr
Cincinnati Bengals that's the team were gonna cheer to victory
Touchdown Bengals!!
Put some points up on the board and win a game for Cincinnati!

Who Dey, Who Dey, Who Dey think gonna beat them Bengals
Who Dey, Who Dey, Who Dey think gonna beat them Bengals
Who Dey, Who Dey, Who Dey think gonna beat them Bengals
Who Dey, Who Dey, Who Dey think gonna beat them Bengals

Noooooobodyyyyy

When Cincinnati made the playoffs, the Hudepohl beer company jumped on the Who Dey bandwagon with their own version in Hu Dey Beer.




Who they think is going to beat them Bengals. Quickly changed to Who Dey think is gonna beat dem Bengals.


Now you will hear stories of where it started and it wasn't Cincinnati. But I assure you. It came from Cincinnati during November of 1981.


Who Dat?. The New Orleans Saints fans want to lay claim to Who Dey through Who Dat. .Not only did it not start with the Saints, I can show where the Saints picked it up and who were the people who changed it to Who Dat.

The Saint's Who Dat started in 1983, Bum Phillips had the Saints fans feeling playoffs for the first time in their history. They had their best start ever with a 5-3 record halfway through the season. They lost their first two games by a total of 4 points. They could of easily been 6-0, or 7-1 at the halfway point.

They picked up Who Dat somewhere during those first 8 games, but their dream season wasn't to be. They Saints finished opposite of how they started, winning only three more games and finishing 8-8

The Saint's Who Dat started up again in 1987 the year they started out 3-3 and never lost another game until they made the playoffs.
Losing to the Viking in their first playoff game. Before 1987 the Saints were known as the Ain'ts, never having a winning record until 1987. They went 8-8 twice, but could never end up above .500.
The reason many believe it came from the Saints, was because their Who Dat chant was popular the 1987 season and the Bengals Who Dey chant was ringing loud in peoples ears the Bengals Super Bowl season of 1988.

The Saints took Who Dat from LSU.
It was reported that LSU football was using a who dat chant in 1982. When they went to the Orange Bowl against Nebraska. Orange Bowl History
A year after the Bengals played in the Super Bowl. LSU finished behind Georgia for the Sec championship. Georgia play Penn St in the Sugar Bowl and lost to the National Champions. LSU lost to Nebraska who finished with second best record in the nation.

The Sec had 4 team in top 20 in 1982. And LSU beat every team in the conference except Georgia (National Championship Game) and Tennessee which they had tied. LSU had the Tiger connection with the Bengals. And in 1981 the Bengals had LSU record holder Charles Alexander on their roster. Who still holds the single season rushing record at LSU. So the alum from LSU watch the Bengals closely because of Charles Alexander.
So it was easy for them to pick up the Who Dey chant and revise it to Who Dat when they started winning in 1982.

LSU had the same type Cinderella story as the Bengals. They finished 3-7-1 in 1981 and only beat one conference team. But turned it around in 1982 going 8-2-1 losing only to Georgia in the SEC. The LSU Tigers lost the Orange Bowl game 21-20 against the second best team in the nation at the time. Nebraska.




This story is on the bengalsjungle.com webstie. You can also read about the history of Who-Dey the Bengals Mascot

http://bengalsjungle.com/whodeyorigin.html

I'd like to thank bengalsjungle.com for the history of the Who-Dey chant
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From Wikipedia:

The chant of "Who Dat?" originated in minstrel shows and vaudeville acts of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was taken up by jazz and big band performers in the 1920s and 30s.
The first reference to "Who Dat?" can be found in the 19th Century in the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar, first in his poem "When Malindy Sings" and later in his lyrics to the song "Who Dat Say Chicken in dis Crowd," a featured song in E.E. Rice's "Summer Nights," in a show called Clorindy: The Origin of the Cake Walk by Will Marion Cook.<SUP id=cite_ref-Robbins_1-0 class=reference>[2]</SUP><SUP id=cite_ref-2 class=reference>[3]</SUP><SUP id=cite_ref-Walker2010_3-0 class=reference>[4]</SUP> A common tag line in the days of Negro minstrel shows was: "Who dat?" answered by "Who dat say who dat?" Many different blackfaced gags played off that opening. Vaudeville performer Mantan Moreland was known for the routine.<SUP id=cite_ref-Walker2010_3-1 class=reference>[4]</SUP> Another example is "Swing Wedding," a 1930s Harman-Ising cartoon musical, which caricatured Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Ethel Waters, and the Mills Brothers as frogs in a swamp performing minstrel show jokes and jazz tunes. The frogs repeatedly used the phrase "who dat?"
In the swing era, "who dat" chants back and forth between the band and the band leader or between the audience and the band were extemporaneous. That is, there was no one specific set of words except for the two magic ones.
"Who Dat?" lyrics from 1937:
Who dat up there who’s dat down there
Who dat up there who dat well down there
Who’s dat up there, sayin’ who’s dat down there
When I see you up there well who’s dat down there Who dat inside who’s dat outside
Who’s dat inside who dat well outside
Who’s dat inside, singin’ who’s dat outside
When I see up there well who’s dat out there Button up your lip there big boy
Stop answerin’ back
Give you a tip there big boy
Announce yourself jack Who dat up there who’s dat down there
Who dat up there who dat, well down there
Who’s dat up there, singin’ who’s dat down there
When I see you up there you bum
Well who’s dat down there Who dat

Staged minstrel skits featured frightened African-American characters saying "who dat" when they encountered a ghost, or someone imitating a ghost. Then, the "who dat"-"who dat say who dat" skit would play itself out. This skit was done frequently in short reels from the 1930s to 1950s and in some early TV shows too. Even the Marx Brothers had a "who dat" routine, which they included in their film A Day at the Races.<SUP id=cite_ref-Walker2010_3-2 class=reference>[4]</SUP> Often, a ghost was called a "who dat". MGM's now-banned animated character Bosko once had such an encounter in a 1938 toon called "Lil Ol Bosko in Bagdad".
"Who Dat?" became a familiar joke with soldiers during World War II.
Back in WWII, US fighter squadron pilots would often fly under radio silence. But things get lonely up there in the cockpit, so after a while there'd be a crackle of static as someone keyed his mike. Then a disembodied voice would reply, "Who dat?" An answer would come, "Who dat say who dat?" And another, "Who dat say who dat when ah say who dat?" After a few rounds of this, the squadron commander would grab his microphone and yell, "Cut it out, you guys!" A few moments of silence. Then... "Who dat?"<SUP style="WHITE-SPACE: nowrap" class="noprint Inline-Template" title="The text in the vicinity of this tag needs citation">[cite this quote]</SUP>
[edit] Origins of the "Who Dat?" chant

"Who Dat" became part of a chant for fans cheering on their favorite team. It has been debated exactly where it started, but some claim it began with Southern University Jaguars fans either in the late 1960s or early 1970s and went "Who dat talkin' 'bout beatin' dem Jags".<SUP id=cite_ref-4 class=reference>[5]</SUP> Another claim is that it was connected with St. Augustine High School, a historically African-American all-boys Catholic high school in New Orleans, and yet another is that the cheer originated at Patterson High School in Patterson, Louisiana (home of Saints running back Dalton Hilliard).<SUP id=cite_ref-Walker2010_3-3 class=reference>[4]</SUP> In the late 1970s fans at Alcorn State University and Louisiana State University picked up on the cheer.<SUP id=cite_ref-5 class=reference>[6]</SUP> By 1983 the cheer had become so popular among fans that the New Orleans Saints organization officially adopted it during the tenure of coach Bum Phillips, and Aaron Neville (along with local musicians Sal and Steve Monistere and Carlo Nuccio) recorded a version of "When the Saints Go Marching In" that incorporated the chant of "Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints" (performed by a group of Saints players). The song quickly became a major local hit, due in part to the support of sportscaster Ron Swoboda and the fact that Saints fans had been using the chant for some time.<SUP id=cite_ref-Walker2010_3-4 class=reference>[4]</SUP> Meanwhile, in about 1981 Cincinnati Bengals fans and players had started with their similar "Who Dey" cheer ("Who Dey think gonna beat them Bengals").<SUP id=cite_ref-6 class=reference>[7]
</SUP>
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I've said it before and I'll say it again.

Who cares who started it? Who dey blah blah Noooooboooody is lame and awkward.

If we started it, they have a terrible imitation.
If they did, we took a terrible chant and made it good.
 
I've said it before and I'll say it again.

Who cares who started it? Who dey blah blah Noooooboooody is lame and awkward.

If we started it, they have a terrible imitation.
If they did, we took a terrible chant and made it good.

This. And honestly, the SB victory last year likely solidified the nation's view that this chant belongs to the Saints. It's become very closely associated with the Saint's team itself, not just the fans. See Drew talking about the "who dat nation".

Obviously, as fans we couldn't care less what the nation thinks...we'd still use it.

But if you're (for some reason) trying to make an objective assessment of who the chant "belongs to", you'd have to say that the Saints have totally claimed it and made it their own, regardless of who actually uttered it first.
 
The Bengals will try to justify that the origins of that awkward *** chant but C'mon man.

There's lots and lots of evidence of Who Dat being used prior to football and I know that it was used in Patterson in 1979 when they went to State -- played in New Orleans. Their phrase was "Who Dat talking 'bout beating dem jacks?"... That's two full years before the Bengals claim to have invented their saying.

Maybe, just maybe, they had something culturally in Cincy that gave birth to Who Dey... I doubt it, because it's just so awkward and contrived, but maybe. The thing that really irritates me is that they don't only try to say they came up with it independently, they try to say that we stole it from them!!

I know growing up you'd talk about someone and someone might ask - "Who's dat?" of "Who dat?" (for who is that). And that was whether talking about an individual or a group. I never ever ever heard anyone say "Who Dey?".

With the Cajun influence, we had "dis" and "dat", "tick" and "tin", etc. (for non-cajuns, that's "this" and "that", "thick" and "thin"). French doesn't have a "th" sound so people with that accent tend to pronounce words that have a "th" either with a "d" or just the "t". To this day, my dad can't say he'd like "that thick steak" -- it's "dat tick steak".

And that's another reason I have a hard time believing it just sprang out of Cincy. "Who Dat" follows the way people in South Louisiana naturally pronounce things. Is "Who Dey" any kind of natural pronunciation up North? I know people from the North usually make fun of me when a "dis" or "dat" slips out.
 
This comes up about once a year.... I searched and can't find last year's thread, but since we play them every pre-season recently it's been discussed a lot lately.
 
Regardless of which one came first (Who Dat), the Bengals chant is stupid, with that lame "nooooooooobody!" on the end of it. What is this, tee-ball? Are they a bunch of 8 year olds? Do they all put their hands in a circle when they say it, then go out for pizza and ice cream after the games?
 
Champions write the history books.

We won a Superbowl and our fan base is known through the league as the "Who Dats" our song has been chanted by personalities like Berman on TV and the league is in a fight to copyright the word "Who Dat" because they see an opportunity to make money (btw, they can suck it...it belongs to the fans of Who Dat Nation).

So who cares what the Bengals think with their lame "Who Dey" chant.

I had the privilege of running into some Bengal fans in Nashville when LSU played Vandy this year. They were wearing orange Bengal shirts with "Who Dey" on the back, orange and black kilts, and face paint. My friend and I started chanting "Who Dat" and they sunk their heads and didn't even try chanting their lame chant back, even though they had us outnumbered. Lame I tell you.
 
Who Dey.. really ? Who Dey Nation ? to quote Big Chief. .that's like giving a tic-tac to a whale, it's just Stupid.

Who Dat = Good Morning, Good afternoon etc..
Who Dat is of course the proper reply.
I am a Who Dat.
We are the Who Dats

Who Dat!?&#8482;

:gosaints:
 
I have commented on this before, and will again. I heard St. Aug's band do the chant at a Bacchus or Endymion parade in the mid seventies. I was 12 at the time, and was NOT impaired in any way. (1976) I KNOW what I heard. "Who dat tawkin 'bout beatin' St. Aug, Who dat? Who dat?" From that day forward St. Augustine's band was my favorite band in the land! They are still VERY talented to say the least. So, this silly Who dey chant began AFTER it began in NEW ORLEANS! Who dey ever won the Super Bowl?
 
Why are we talking about this. If Cincy want to say Who Dey, let um. We don't say dat. What's the fuss?
 

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