'Who in the hell is Mel Kiper anyway?': Former Bengals, NFL personnel legend Bill Tobin passes away

Tobin's first major gig on the personnel side was the general manager for the Chicago Bears from 1987-92. He spent six seasons in the Windy City before moving on the Indianapolis Colts from 1994-96. 

Most football fans remember his historic clapback to ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. after his Colts passed up on Trent Dilfer in the 1994 NFL Draft.

"Who in the hell is Mel Kiper anyway?" That was Tobin.

Tobin later became the Detroit Lions' director of player personnel from 2001-02 before finally arriving in Cincinnati to start a 20-year tenure as a scouting consultant and veteran member of the personnel department. 

"He was a true NFL success story," said Bengals President Mike Brown. "He was a good person and I considered him a good friend. With Bill, I respected everything he said. I just took it as a given. He had an eye for players and what they would develop into. If he said the guy was a good player, then he was a good player; that's all I would need to know. We will miss him."

Bill's son, Duke Tobin, has been with the team even longer and has acted as the de factor general manager for two different coaching tenures. The father-son duo worked in tandem all the way up until 2022 when Bill stepped down. 

Plenty of Bengals greats over the past 20 years have been scouting by Bill Tobin, including eight-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Geno Atkins. 

"Although he didn't call the shot on Georgia tackle Geno Atkins in the fourth round in 2010, he scouted him early and often in his region and recommended him enthusiastically." - Bengals.com's Geoff Hobson

The timing of Tobin's passing is quite unfortunate as only six days remain until Duke and his staff take on the NFL Draft. The Bengals were scheduled to have a pre-draft press conference featuring Duke that has since been cancelled.