When the 2021/2022 NFL season started, few people could likely imagine attending a Super Bowl that included the Cincinnati Bengals as one of the competitors. Afterall, some oddsmakers had given them as slim as a 200 to 1 shot of making the big game. However, as the season wore on and the team hung around and then flourished, the dream became a reality for Bengals fans. Interestingly, this included some local fans who got to ride the team’s wave of success thanks to an amazing family connection.
Monica and Darwin Christensen live in Belmond. Monica works at Iowa Specialty Hospital as a respiratory therapist in both Belmond and Clarion. They have five grown children and now ten grandchildren. The family are huge sports fans, with husband Darwin often coaching sports, including at Waldorf College. The Christensen children were also an athletic bunch, playing sports in high school and college, including one of their daughters, Dana.
Dana attended Iowa State University and ran track. While she was there, she met a nice graduate assistant who was working as a strength coach for the Cyclones football team. This young coach was Justin Hill. Hill is from the Dallas area and played football at Rice where he was co-captain his senior year in 2010. Dana and Justin hit it off and eventually got married even as he continued his coaching career at Baylor then the University of Tulsa.
As Monica explains, a little over a year ago, Justin got a call from an acquaintance about a new coaching gig…working as a running backs coach for the Cincinnati Bengals! It was a dream come true even though the Hill family had to move right around when Dana was going to have the family’s second child. A year later, the rest is a bit of a fairy tale, as Justin helped coach a team that was expected to finish last in their division to a very close Super Bowl.
During the last year, the Christensens have enjoyed becoming Bengals fans, though that wasn’t a team that they have traditionally followed. Monica said they were able to go to a few games throughout the season and also volunteered to babysit several grandkids so their children could go to games as well.
She added that the experience of going to games and watching the team grow was beyond exciting. “The energy in Paul Brown Stadium was just incredible. It’s amazing what it does to a city when you start to win,” she said. And win they did!
When the dust settled, the Bengals had beaten the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime in the AFC Championship. They were going to the Super Bowl in Los Angeles versus the hometown Rams. Monica explained that coaches receive an allotment of tickets to the big game that family can use. They are a little discounted but certainly not free.
She said that she and her husband could not pass up the chance to go to the game. Dana of course was at the game as were her other two daughters along with members of Justin’s family. Monica and Darwin as immediate family even got to stay at the Bengals team hotel where she describes the security as extremely tight.
During the week leading up to the game, the family got to spend a few nights with Justin for shorts stints. He related that the team was ready to go and knew they could win!
Game day was very exciting. They were lucky enough to take a bus to new SoFi Stadium which Monica describes as amazing. They sat a few sections up in one of the endzones. In a tight game with the Bengals leading into the third quarter, Monica said, “I thought we were going to win the whole time. I was hoping for overtime.” Though the Rams would score a fourth quarter touchdown and eventually win, Monica said it was still a positive vibe. “Everyone was great and very congratulatory all around.”
A special addition to the game, according to Monica, was when the family took part in the “No Fan Left Behind” movement. This was a project started by the Bengals faithful to remember fans who had passed away. At the Super Bowl, over 800 t-shirts were distributed with pictures of the late fans so they would be remembered and represented at their team’s big moment. The Christensen family took t-shirts. One of Monica’s daughters, Kasie, had a small child, Ben Messer, on the shirt she got. It was very special when Ben’s mother eventually reached out to Kasie after seeing his picture on her shirt on social media.
Ultimately, the Christensen family had an amazing time at the Super Bowl. Monica said that Justin and the Bengals team of course were a bit somber after the game, but very optimistic about their future. “They’re confident they can end up their again in the next years,” she said. And if the Bengals do again make it to the big one, perhaps the Christensens will again get to enjoy those bright lights.
