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Former Bengals Starting Tight End Announces Retirement Decision

C.J. Uzomah, a former Cincinnati Bengals tight end and ten-year NFL veteran, announced his retirement on Monday as a member of the Bengals. The 33-year-old, who last played for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024, will be honored as 'Ruler of the Jungle' during Week 4 of the 2026 season.

By Tertius News AI Desk 1 outlet · 1 article Version 1 Coverage Aug 24, 2026 Published 19h ago

Uzomah Retires as a Bengal

C.J. Uzomah, a tight end who spent seven seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals and won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles, announced his retirement from the NFL on Monday. According to Sports Illustrated, Uzomah will retire as a member of the Bengals organization.

The 33-year-old, who played ten seasons in the league, was drafted by Cincinnati in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft with the 157th overall pick out of Auburn. He played for the Bengals from 2015 through 2021 before signing with the New York Jets in free agency after the 2021 season.

A Return to Cincinnati

The Bengals are welcoming Uzomah back as 'Ruler of the Jungle' for Week 4 of the 2026 season, where he will lead the crowd cheer against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Uzomah was at practice on the day of his announcement and posted a heartfelt message to fans on social media.

"History has a way of repeating itself, and there's no place I'd want to formally announce my retirement than the place that started it all for me and gave me my chance," Uzomah wrote. "The place I will always think of as my second home and will always hold a special place in me and my family's heart. The place where we won a playoff game for the first time since before I was born, and went on an odds-defying run to the Super Bowl. A place where I've met people who have become like brothers to me. Cincinnati, thank you for everything. Who Dey Forever."

This announcement echoed the goodbye message he shared in 2022 when he left the Bengals.

"I've had a difficult time putting into words what this city has meant to my family and me over the years," Uzomah wrote at that time. "As I look back on my time in this organization, I couldn't be more proud of what we have accomplished together. I came into this city 7 years ago as a boy, and I am leaving now as a man. You have allowed this goofy kid to be himself. I couldn't be more grateful for that." He thanked the Brown family, his teammates, coaches, and trainers in those remarks.

Career Highlights

Uzomah's career included a Super Bowl appearance with the Bengals in the 2021 season and a Super Bowl LIX victory with the Eagles, who defeated the Kansas City Chiefs. He played two seasons with the Jets after leaving Cincinnati, and seven games for the Eagles in 2024. He did not play in the 2025 NFL season, making the 2024 campaign his final one on the field.

How this outlet told it

Sports Illustrated as of Aug 24, 2026, 9:16 PM UTC

Facts Included:

Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals
Super Bowl
Super Bowl LIX
Super Bowl LIX
Super Bowl
Super Bowl
Super Bowl

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What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimC.J. Uzomah retired from the NFL on Monday as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via Heavy. as of Aug 24, 2026, 7:18 PM UTC, Sports Illustrated as of Aug 24, 2026, 9:16 PM UTC
ClaimC.J. Uzomah will retire as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals organization.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via Heavy. as of Aug 24, 2026, 7:18 PM UTC, Sports Illustrated as of Aug 24, 2026, 9:16 PM UTC
ClaimC.J. Uzomah announced his retirement from the NFL on Monday.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via Heavy. as of Aug 24, 2026, 7:18 PM UTC, Sports Illustrated as of Aug 24, 2026, 9:16 PM UTC
ClaimC.J. Uzomah is retiring after ten seasons in the NFL.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via Heavy. as of Aug 24, 2026, 7:18 PM UTC, Sports Illustrated as of Aug 24, 2026, 9:16 PM UTC
ClaimC.J. Uzomah was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft with the 157th overall pick.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via Sports Illustrated as of Aug 24, 2026, 9:16 PM UTC, Heavy. as of Aug 24, 2026, 7:18 PM UTC
ClaimC.J. Uzomah was 33 years old when he retired.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Sports Illustrated as of Aug 24, 2026, 9:16 PM UTC
ClaimC.J. Uzomah played for the Cincinnati Bengals from 2015 through 2021 and signed with the New York Jets after the 2021 season.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Heavy. as of Aug 24, 2026, 7:18 PM UTC
ClaimC.J. Uzomah played seven games for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Heavy. as of Aug 24, 2026, 7:18 PM UTC
ClaimC.J. Uzomah did not play in the 2025 NFL season.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Heavy. as of Aug 24, 2026, 7:18 PM UTC
ClaimC.J. Uzomah won a Super Bowl ring with the Philadelphia Eagles after they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Heavy. as of Aug 24, 2026, 7:18 PM UTC
ClaimC.J. Uzomah signed with the New York Jets in free agency after the 2021 season and played two seasons with them.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Heavy. as of Aug 24, 2026, 7:18 PM UTC
ClaimC.J. Uzomah last played in the 2024 season for the Philadelphia Eagles and did not play in the 2025 season.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Heavy. as of Aug 24, 2026, 7:18 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

1 outlet · 1 article consulted: Sports Illustrated 12 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-24