Bob Trumpy is in pregame mode.
I’m sitting with the former pro bowl TE on the back patio of the Glendale Lyceum in suburban Cincinnati, awaiting word from videographer Kareem Elgazzar that the cameras are set up inside and ready for our interview to begin.
It’s then that the baritone-voiced original Bengal slips into the routine he used before kickoff during his 10 seasons in pro football.
He lights up a cigarette.
Trumpy would pace and smoke, usually with teammates Bruce Coslet and Chip Myers, in the locker room shower prior to games.
“Yeah, it was a real traffic pattern problem in the shower.