How I Watch With TikTok Fashion Guru and Lifelong Bengals Fan Parker York Smith

How do you watch your favorite team each week? Sports Illustrated is highlighting passionate sports fans all season long with its How I Watch series, where you’ll hear from athletes, celebrities and other superfans from across the country about their game-day traditions, routines and setup for the perfect day of watching sports.

Social media creator and Cincinnati native Parker York Smith says he’s using his online platform to teach viewers how to “dress differently” and be more conscious about self-care in general.

“I have just made a career out of helping other guys learn what they can be doing to feel a little bit more confident in their own skin without necessarily having to break the bank and go buy the fanciest, newest, nicest things,” he explains.

Smith doles out his wisdom to his more than 900,000 TikTok followers, answering audience questions about how to style certain pieces or stay under a certain budget. He’s also put together fits inspired by 1990s TV icons and the Scooby-Doo gang.

So when it was time to put together an outfit for the Bengals’ trip to the Super Bowl last season, Smith went all out:

He spoke to SI about his family’s Bengals fandom, living in Los Angeles as a Cincinnati fan, the special Super Bowl–related bond he shares with his son and more.

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Sports Illustrated: With the Bengals, walk me through your fandom—have you been with them since you were a kid?

Parker York Smith: I am originally from Cincinnati. I was born and raised there, and then moved to L.A. after college. I have been a lifelong, born-and-bred Bengals fan. Cincinnati is a great sports town—some of the most loyal, incredible fans. Especially growing up, we had baseball and football. … I’ve always been a basketball fan, so I wished we had a basketball team, but since we didn’t it was very important to really dial in and get excited about the Bengals. So, I’m a born-and-raised fan to this day. I’m still as die-hard and as dedicated as ever. It’s something that has just been in my family for years. I grew up going to games with my parents; my mom still has season tickets. So yeah, definitely orange and black in the blood for sure.

SI: So what’s the first thing you do to get yourself pumped up to watch a game now?

PYS: To be honest, I’ve kinda learned that anyone who’s followed the Bengals over the years has known that it’s been a pretty tumultuous journey. The year that I was born was the first year that they went to the Super Bowl, so it’s been a long 30-some years up until last season. Getting myself pumped up for a game is something I learned to shy away from, because we have had so many letdowns over the years that I’ve sort of learned to find this happy medium of being excited while also being realistic. … Putting too much into it is just absolutely heartbreaking, because they’ve always been right on the cusp. There’s been several years where they were straight-up bad, but there’s also been tons of years where they were right on the fence, where it was almost going our way … and then not. I have definitely learned to keep it under control.

SI: Are you superstitious at all with the way you watch the games?

PYS: My approach is, with superstitions, every season I try different jersey, pants and hat combinations. And then once that starts to click, I stick with that. It’s not really something that carries over; it refreshes every year. So last year for the playoff run, I literally wore the same jersey, sweatpants and hat every game. And I like to think that that’s the reason why they made it to the Super Bowl. [Laughs.]

SI: Do you have a favorite piece? Or one that has any special meaning to you?

PYS: I have a hat that was my wife’s dad’s, it’s sort of old-school, vintage-y. My wife is also from Cincinnati, [but] we met in L.A. So it’s kind of a crazy story, but she also comes from a long line of Bengals loyalty. It was really cool to be able to get that. I also have a Boomer Esiason game-worn, signed jersey that lives at my mom’s house back home. That’s definitely one of my prized things in terms of Bengals memorabilia. And then I just have a couple of jerseys that I’ll rotate between—I’m a big fan of collecting the older ones as opposed to buying a new one every year. I think it’s fun to go a little bit more of a throwback vibe for sure.

SI: And that way they can’t leave.

PYS: Exactly, exactly. I’m also lucky because my last name is Smith, so I have a jersey in my closet of a guy named Justin Smith who was on the team years ago. It’s easy for me to get non-personalized Smith jerseys for most of my favorite sports teams, thankfully. So if there is a guy on the team with that last name, I’ll normally try to grab one just so I have it.

SI: What’s your snack spread usually like, whether it be at home or if you go back to Cincinnati?

PYS: Anyone who is familiar with Cincinnati will know Skyline; it’s a chili restaurant. Even in California, my wife and I usually keep a stash of the cans of the chili. She will usually make this dip: It’s chili with cream cheese and cheese melted on the top. It’s a local Cincinnati delicacy. If you’ve had it before, it’s very hit-or-miss—people either love it or hate it. Obviously growing up there, we love it, so it’s one of those things that on Sundays, we know that she’s going to throw together a chili dip for us. It just gets you in the mood. Once you taste that, you’re like, ‘O.K., it’s game time.’

SI: Since you’re not out there it might be a little bit difficult to go to one, but when you do have an opportunity to tailgate, what’s an essential?

PYS: Cornhole, for sure. Cincinnatians will always argue that it originated in our town. It’s something that I grew up playing all the time. Now that they have professional leagues for it, I’m like, ‘I missed the career path, for sure.’ Whether it’s 95 and sunny or 30 degrees and windy, we’ve got the cornhole boards out. It’s definitely not a tailgate unless you’ve got that going. And you know: wings, Skyline … just stuff like that is definitely going to be the extra on top.

SI: Is it difficult to be a fan of a team when you’re across the country from them?

PYS: It’s kind of bittersweet. Part of me, like last year, it was so tough being away during the playoff run when I knew the city was going crazy. All my friends back home were having the best time, enjoying this potentially once-in-a-lifetime experience. … It was tough to be away from that. Then again, there’s been so many times over the years where they’ve been really close and fallen short. So it’s nice to be able to step away from it in those cases, where if they do go through a really heartbreaking loss, I can just disassociate and not have to be as upset as I know a lot of my friends are. There, the whole city is feeling it with them, whereas in Los Angeles, it’s such a transplant city that no one even hardly cares, anyway.

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SI: I was going to say, did you feel like you were the only person in Los Angeles who was rooting for the Bengals last year?

PYS: That was the one time that was the worst because it’s like … normally [the Bengals] lose, it’s fine. But not only are they losing the Super Bowl … but then to have them lose in a close game, the one time a year where L.A. fans actually care. … It was tough to have it be the Super Bowl that happened down the road. It was a unique experience, for sure. It was really fun to be in L.A. and see so many Bengals jerseys around; that’s super uncommon. But those next few days after the Super Bowl were rough, seeing all of the “Congratulations, Rams!” [and] “Way to go!” [and] “Sorry, Bengals fans!” [signs].

SI: What’s your favorite memory, either recent or when you were younger, of watching the Bengals play?

PYS: Obviously last year. Like I mentioned, the year I was born was the first time they went to the Super Bowl. My dad went to the game, and they lost, unfortunately. And then last season was the year my son was born. So it’s kind of a cool full-circle moment. He wasn’t around yet, and even if he was he would have been too young to experience it with me, but still just the legendary run last year was so out of what we’re used to as Bengals fans. We had been waiting for so long, and it was so exciting for them to keep winning in these exciting, dramatic games. … It was amazing. There’s plenty of memories from being at games. You know, I watched them win a game in the fourth quarter on a trick play years and years and years ago with my dad, which was cool. But just seeing the city be rewarded with this epic run last year was definitely very special.

SI: After all that, what’s the wildest thing you would do to guarantee this year that the Bengals win their first Super Bowl?

PYS: I would gladly have them have losing seasons for the next 15 years if I knew for sure they were going to win one soon. That would be such an incredible experience. And if I knew that they were going to win one, I would for sure pay whatever it cost to be there and experience it in person. … Honestly, I don’t even know if I would go to the game, but I would go back to Cincinnati and experience it with the city. I just know how much people love this team, and it would just be an incredible moment. It would be an unforgettable experience to be there and see it with everyone.

SI: People pay a lot of attention now to pregame fashion. Sports Illustrated has these Fit Check videos where we do the best and worst. If you had the opportunity, how would you style Joe Burrow? He has a reputation for being fresh.

PYS: To be completely honest, I think I would just do more of the same. I really have been super impressed with him stylistically. Anyone who comes in and grabs the spotlight like he did, with the bold suits and the statement eyewear and the trendsetting left and right … I just felt like it was such a bold move of him to know that everyone’s already watching him and how he’s going to play, and then for him to roll in with these crazy suits. To make these statements, I felt like it was such a boss move to really say, Yeah, I’m here. Keep watching. I’m gonna put on a show; we’re gonna do the best we can and have fun with it. If there’s one sentence that can encapsulate my whole viewpoint on style and the message I try to deliver to people in life in general, honestly, is just have fun with it. Life’s too short to take it too seriously, and when you’re playing the game as well as he is, to be able to just continue to make little moves to have fun with it is awesome. Keep doing what you’re doing, Joe.

SI: Is there a player, doesn’t have to be a Bengal, that you’ve realized is the most fashionable? Or that they get off some good outfits every season?

PYS: I mean, these days because of the videos and everything, I love how conscious guys are about it. You’re seeing more and more bold moves. I have always been a fan of DeAndre Hopkins’s style choices, I feel like he really goes for it. Pretty much anybody that’s down to understand that this is a very special place that they find themselves in, so let’s make a statement or wear some loud colors or a bold pattern. Things that show that they’re just trying to have fun and enjoy themselves and express themselves. It’s not really about trying to seem too serious, or presenting this businessman front or anything. Aaron Donald is always making really cool statements. As opposed to one specific person, pretty much anybody who’s out there having fun [and] pushing the envelope. … To be quite frank, a lot of guys in the football world are concerned about masculinity and presentation and stuff like that. So I think it’s awesome to have these cultural leaders showing that putting on a well-fitting suit or a really fun, bold shirt doesn’t change the fact that you’re still super masculine and super confident in yourself. More people should be interested in being concerned about that kind of stuff.